A delighted family celebrated new beginnings on Sunday as they welcomed their second baby on the first day of Eid Al Fitr, more than a month earlier than expected.
Mai Awad, an Egyptian, gave birth to a healthy baby boy weighing 2.9 kilograms at 00.01am in Abu Dhabi's Burjeel Hospital.
The new bundle of joy made his entrance into the world just hours after the moon-sighting committee announced the Eid holiday would begin on Sunday.
Baby Selim was the first to be born in the hospital on what many families in the UAE consider an auspicious day.
"We are feeling great and blessed to welcome our baby on the first day of Eid Al Fitr," his father, Mohamed Elbasyouny, told The National.
"The expected due date was July 5 so he came early.
"We are thankful for this blessing and with the birth being on Eid, it was a double joy for our family.
"We called him Selim which means safe, complete, good and healthy.
"His five-year-old sister gave him the name."
The couple said the current pandemic made the last few months of the pregnancy a little surreal, as family and friends were unable to visit, but said they received a lot of support through phone and video calls.
In Al Ain, Amna Saeed, an Emirati, gave birth to a healthy baby girl weighing 2.5kg at 4.23am in the city's NMC Hospital.
The parents are yet to name the girl. However, they said her younger brother, Diyab, is keen to take on the honour of naming his new sibling.
The baby girl was among the first babies born in Al Ain on Sunday.
“People all over the world are celebrating this auspicious day, but for us the happiness has just doubled as we welcome our new baby,” said Mrs Saeed, a university student.
The mother-of-two and her husband, Ali Saeed, who works for the Department of Economy, said they had been anxious throughout the last trimester of the pregnancy due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Unfortunately, it was a muted celebration for the couple as family and friends were not permitted to visit the hospital due to the social distancing and other precautionary measures in place.
Despite that, Mr Saeed said it was a “special and memorable day”.
"We understand the need to practice social distancing, so for now, we are making do with phone and video calls."
On Sunday morning, five other mothers were set to give birth at the hospital in Al Ain and NMC said it was planning to welcome “more than two dozen Eid babies” across its global network of hospitals on the first day of the religious festival.
A few months ago, many mums-to-be were simply focused on having a healthy pregnancy and putting together a birth plan. But the pandemic changed things for a lot of people.
Living through the coronavirus outbreak has been a particularly stressful time for expectant mothers.
For some, their household income has decreased due to job losses or salary reductions. For others, social distancing and the sudden loss of freedom of movement has resulted in a quiet and somewhat lonely pregnancy, with the usual celebrations with loved ones put on hold.
But Sunday’s news was a welcome relief from the current norm for several families in the Emirates.
Dr Brinda Lakshminarasimha , a specialist consultant at NMC Specialty Hospital, said healthcare staff worked hard to make the experience a good one, all while juggling the “additional responsibility” of delivering babies safely owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
As an extra precautionary measure, health authorities in the UAE have encouraged mothers-to-be to undertake regular hand washing, eat nutritiously, stay hydrated, ensure social distancing and wear a mask in public at all times.
