Mattias Luke Giesbrecht was born at 1:29 a.m. at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital Wednesday morning. He is the fourth child of Lisa and George Giesbrecht, of Rolling Hills - SUBMITTED PHOTO
@MedicineHatNews
The first baby born in Medicine Hat in the New Year arrived about 90 minutes after the turn of the calendar to 2025.
Mattias Luke Giesbrecht was born at 1:29 a.m. at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital on Wednesday morning, making him the unofficial New Year’s Baby for the region.
He is the fourth child of Lisa and George Giesbrecht, of Rolling Hills, and arrived 90 minutes after his due date of New Year’s Eve.
“We headed up in the afternoon and didn’t mind waiting that extra little bit,” George told the News on Wednesday.
“We have two girls and boy – we didn’t know the gender (of Mattias) beforehand – but we kind of wanted two boys and two girls.”
“It’s wonderful.”
The newest member of the family arrived weighing eight pounds nine ounces.
The couple wished to acknowledge the help of midwife Hillary Johnstone, from Grasslands Midwifery, and the nursing staff at the maternity ward.
A gift basket of prizes will be forwarded to the Giesbrechts from the News at a later date.
Several years ago, Alberta Health Services stopped the practice of arranging contact with new parents or releasing other information about patients, including newborns.
The News, therefore, relies on the public to make contact for an unofficial determination.
Elsewhere, Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange posted on social media Wednesday that the first baby born in the province in 2025 was a girl, Amira.
She arrived at the South Campus Hospital in Calgary at 12:02 a.m. on January 1, weighing four pounds 14.3 ounces.
The most recently available data from the provincial vital statistics office states that 492 babies were born in 2023 to mothers with addresses in Medicine Hat.
That represents continued decline from the recent high of 823 in 2009.
