Christmas delivery in Townsville maternity ward

When Christmas Day arrived, there was already two mothers in labour at Townsville University Hospital. The day didn’t slow down for nurses, who delivered six babies by 1pm.

Christmas Day baby: this unnamed bub from Black River is only nine hours old.

The first baby to be born on Christmas Day wasn’t messing around, entering the world 47 minutes past midnight.

And they were in good company, with the Townsville University Hospital maternity ward delivering six babies by 1pm and expecting even more by midnight.

One of these Christmas babies was the still-unnamed newborn Masson.

Born at 4.03am to first time parents Aimee, 28, and Brandon Masson, 29, the bub was unfussed by life on the outside and happily slept through his special interview with the Bulletin.

Christmas Day baby - Masson family from Black River

He was due on December 23 but clung on until the last minutes of December 24.

Aimee said her water broke at 11.47pm but she didn’t rush to hospital.

“The last thing I wanted was to be sent back home,” she said.

Being from Black River, the drive to hospital can be over 30 minutes one-way.

Naturally, the infamous Bruce Highway roadworks get a mention in the birth story.

“Mum was going 60 through the roadworks and I asked her what speed she was doing,” Aimee said.

“It felt way slower. I couldn’t stand it.”

When asked how labour was, the new mother said it was “pretty s--t”.

“It was fast but when I got an epidural his heart rate went down and it got dicey. They performed an emergency C-section,” she said.

Christmas Day baby - Masson family from Black River

With the delivery behind them, the new parents are now focusing on the bub’s name.

“We’ve got three to pick from,” Aimee said.

“We had a girls name picked straight away but kept going between boy names. We chose not to learn the gender early and we sorta put off deciding on a boys name.”

But they have a middle name - Reginald, after Aimee’s father.

Grandad Reginald himself was in the room, proudly telling everyone he now had a grandson.

“I was hoping he’d be born on the 24th because all our grandkids are born on the 24th,” Reginald Aitckeson said.

“He’s my fifth grandchild and he’s the only one not born on a 24th.”

However, Reginald Junior earns some points for only missing the 24th by four hours.

Originally published as Christmas delivery in Townsville maternity ward