"Praise be to God", or "Thank God" are the names of this year's first baby and the last of 2000 to be born at Abu Dhabi's Corniche Hospital. The hospital's first baby of the new year, a girl weighing 3.75 kilos, was born at 1:10am yesterday. The last baby of 2000, a boy weighing 2.56 kilos, was born at 8:56 on Sunday night.

The babies were born to UAE couples, who decided to name them Hamad and Hamda, meaning "praise" or "thank" in classical Arabic and are most commonly used to praise and thank God. Khadija Hassan, who gave birth to the new year's first baby at the hospital, said they may call their girl Hamda because she is a gift from God.

Coincidentally, the parents of the last baby born in 2000 decided to call their baby Hamad — the male form of Hamda. Hamda is the fourth child of Hassan Ahmed Rajab Al Hosni and Khadija Hassan. "She is a New Year's gift from God, and my resolution is to provide her and the other three children with the best education and comfort," Khadija said.

She said her husband, who works for the Navy, was happy to have the hospital's first baby of the New Year. "He wanted to be pictured with the baby this morning. It's a pity he had to go to work," she said. Khadija said the new baby gives them two boys and two girls, and that is what made the new arrival so special.

Hamad's father, Yousuf Hassan Jassem, who works for the Air Force, said he was very happy that God had given him a healthy son. Jocelyn Christodouliaes, Assistant Matron at the hospital, said December saw the highest number of deliveries. Hamad was the 947th.

"Last year was an extremely busy year with a record number of deliveries. The number reached 10,375. It included twins," she said. There were 14 births between midnight and 11am yesterday.