During a ceremony at Naval Hospital Naples on Friday, John and Amy Heidmann, left, hold baby Sophie, the last baby born in 2007 at the hospital in Naples, while Ligia Villajuana and Felix May hold Samuel, the first baby born in 2008 at the the hospital. (Lisa M. Novak / Stars and Stripes)
NAPLES, Italy — Right after the stroke of midnight on Dec. 31, reporters starting calling hospitals to ask when the first baby of the New Year was born. In all the fanfare, the last baby of the previous year is rarely noted.
That is not the case at Naval Hospital Naples on the Navy Support Site in Gricignano. On Friday, the hospital honored both.
“It’s a tradition to honor the first and last babies born in our hospital every year,” said Lt. Cmdr. Johannes Bailey, president of the Naples Area Nurses Association, which sponsors the annual event.
“It’s the perfect occasion to send out the old year and ring in the new.”
The last baby born at Naval Hospital Naples in 2007 was Sophie Renee Heidmann. The daughter of John and Amy Heidmann was born during an emergency procedure on New Year’s Eve.
“The baby’s heart rate dropped after labor was induced, so the doctors delivered her by C-section,” said Amy Heidmann.
“The hospital did a great job of bringing Sophie into the world,” added John Heidmann, an Air Force major stationed at the Allied Joint Forces Command. “We think very highly of this hospital and the staff.”
The first baby born at the hospital in 2008 was Samuel Aaron Villajuana May, the son of Navy Lt. Ligia Villajuana and Felix May.
Samuel’s mother went into labor early in the morning of Jan. 1. “I started at about 6 a.m., and Samuel was born just before 2 p.m.,” she said.
The ceremony in the hospital’s atrium was attended by about 50 staff members and friends.
Both children received gifts including a savings bond, a basket with baby supplies, a gift certificate and a plaque. The gifts were presented on behalf of the nurses association, the 1st Class Petty Officers Association and the Chief Petty Officers Association.
