KINGSTON, Jamaica—Some 61 new mothers who gave birth on Thursday, December 25, at Victoria Jubilee Maternity Hospital in downtown Kingston were presented with baskets by Kiwanis Division 23 East as part of their annual Baby Love Project.

“This morning, we have 61 delivered mothers on the ward. Seven delivered since 12 midnight. The first baby was delivered at 12:11 am, and it was a boy. The second baby was delivered at 12:14 am, a girl. The third baby was delivered at 4:07 am, that’s another girl, and the fourth baby was delivered at 5:02 am, and that’s another girl,” said Matron Elise Fairweather-Blackwood, director of nursing services at Victoria Jubilee Hospital.

Fairweather-Blackwood said baskets were presented to all the mothers on the ward.

“Baskets were presented to all the mothers who were on the ward, and for those who were delivered this morning, first to fourth got special baskets. So the first mother was done by cesarean section, so she was unable to come down, and the third mother was not well enough to come downstairs,” she said.

Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton, who was present as the baskets were presented to the mothers, paid tribute to the Kiwanis Club for the initiative.

“In paying tribute to young ones coming into the ward, mothers who have journeyed the distance to this point, hopefully with the support of the fathers and family members. But renewal because the future is really ahead, and that renewal involves a lot. It involves happiness because it represents something new, someone new. It represents the future in terms of the potential that the future brings, but it also represents challenges. I think in that regard, we have to pay tribute to the Kiwanis Club because what you’re actually doing is giving an energetic start to the renewal of this process of our youngsters coming into the world,” Tufton said.

Audrey Brown, lieutenant governor of the Kiwanis Division 23 East, shared that the Baby Love Project, which is now in its 12th staging, is something that the clubs look forward to each year.

“This is our 12th staging of the Baby Love Project, and this is something the clubs look forward to doing every year at this time on Christmas Day. It’s a big sacrifice, and especially now that we have the passage of Melissa, they just think that we should continue to do this and do this in a big way,” she said.

She added that each club was mandated to give three baskets per club; however, some went beyond and gave six baskets.

“I must say the men of Division 23 chipped in real awesome there and shows that we do have committed fathers and Kiwanis Division 23 East, we do have examples of those fathers,” she added.

(Video: Llewellyn Wynter)