SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - After 14 hours of labour, Kasandra Migwi gave birth in the early morning of Jan. 2, making her newborn son Yellowknife's first baby of 2011.

Kasandra Migwi and Murphy Tinqui hold Jade Joseph Migwi, the first baby born in Yellowknife in 2011. - Adrian Lysenko/NNSL photo

Jade Joseph Migwi made his debut at Stanton Territorial Hospital at 2:28 a.m., weighing 7 pounds, 11 ounces.

"Well we weren't really expecting it," Migwi told Yellowknifer nearly 12 hours later. "My due date wasn't until five days from now."

For giving birth to the first baby in the city, Migwi and her partner Murphy Tinqui, who reside in Behchoko, received a gift basket from the hospital. The gift included baby clothes, diapers and other baby accessories.

"We certainly always give them well wishes and give them a whole package to get them set up for their first year," said Dr. Jim Corkal, medical director with Stanton Territorial Health Authority. "It's always a kind of a symbolic type of thing."

Corkal said it's common for Yellowknife's first baby of the new year to be delivered between the first and fifth days of the year.

Jade Joseph was born with the help of three obstetric nurses, Migwi said, as there were no complications and no need for a doctor to be present.

As of Monday, both Inuvik Regional Hospital and Hay River Hospital reported no deliveries yet in 2011. Midwife Lesley Paulette in Fort Smith also had no births to report. Paulette said with no other known births from those places, Jade Joseph may have been the first baby born in the entire territory.

Despite that distinction, Migwi said she isn't planning on a little brother or sister for Jade Joseph anytime soon.

"No, not right away," she said.

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