Baby born at millennium start

JAKARTA (JP): A female baby was born exactly at the start of the millennium at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital, Central Jakarta, and was named after the special event.

According to hospital records, Dita Faradila Milenia was born at midnight to Mintarsih, 30, a member of the administration staff of garment producer PT Great River. The baby girl weighs 2.9 kilograms and is 44 centimeters tall.

The proud father, Sutrisno, 38, of Jl. Mampang Prapatan XIII No.61 in South Jakarta, said he never expected that his first child would be delivered precisely at the start of the new millennium.

"During my wife's pregnancy, the doctors told us that my wife would not have the baby before Jan. 15. But on Dec. 31, she felt the contractions.

"Thank God the delivery ran normally," Sutrisno, a security official for Jakarta-based video clip producer Avant Garde, told reporters at the hospital.

A minute later, another baby girl was born at Harapan Kita Maternity Hospital in West Jakarta. The baby, weighing 3.34 kilograms, was born to a woman identified only as Sulistiani.

A third baby, a 3.62 kilogram boy, was born to a woman identified only as Narti, also at Harapan Kita hospital.

"The two babies were born naturally," said nurse Aida.

Meanwhile, Pondok Indah Hospital in South Jakarta recorded the births of 13 babies born hours after city dwellers marked the start of the new millennium.

"The babies were delivered between 6 a.m and 6 p.m. on Jan. 1. Ten of the 13 babies are male," said Lili, an admission staffer at the hospital. (01/asa)