Love, loss and new life: The story of the first Chester baby born in 2025
Nineteen minutes into 2025, the first baby for more than 1,000 square miles was born at the Countess of Chester hospital.
Zara Parker-Lomax delivered her third baby on New Year's Day, with her 'soulmate', Sam, and the 'heart of the maternity unit' by her side.
However, the magical birth of her daughter followed a painful history of loss and grief.
Zara's first baby, Eli, was stillborn at 25 weeks and two days.
Following the loss of her son, Zara turned to Chester Miscarriage Support Group, in a time when she desperately needed a judgement-free environment.
The group provided further guidance when she became pregnant with her second child, and she struggled with the stigma of 'not enjoying' the pregnancy.
She praised the support the group provided, and the work they do for women suffering from miscarriage and grief.
She explained the difficulty of pregnancy following infant loss, saying: "You can't enjoy a pregnancy after losing a baby really, it's sort of tainted in a way.
"You know, you love those moments where you're in a scan because you can see that everything is fine.
"But then as soon as the scan is over, you're back to being petrified that something is going to happen."
Zara gave birth to her son, Theo, in February 2019.
Describing her fears surrounding the pregnancy, she said: "You kind of feel guilty in a sense when you're pregnant and not enjoying it.
"It had not been an easy road for me and Sam with our pregnancies. With Theo, I was petrified."
"You can't help but have that continuous worry until you hear that baby cry.
"We had loads of scans, the Countess was just amazing. "
Theo turns six next month and is already stepping up to the role of big brother.
When Zara discovered she was pregnant with Amelia, she was offered extra scans whenever she wanted.
It was soon revealed, however, that she had pre-eclampsia, resurfacing old fears surrounding Eli's birth.
Due to complications with her condition, she was brought in a week earlier for an induction.
She said: "I'm really stubborn to get blood out of, so it took an hour and a half to get a cannula in.
"If that hadn't happened then Amelia wouldn't have been the first one on New Year's Day. It was thanks to me being stubborn that got her celebrity status."
In just over an hour, Zara had delivered her third baby into the world, in the first minutes of 2025.
Praising the staff, she said: "Because I was the only one down there at the time I basically got all of them.
"They were all in there; everyone was dead excited asking how they could help. I basically had all of their attention."
Once it was confirmed that Zara had delivered the first baby of New Year's Day in the region, the group celebrated.
She added: "Seeing them come together as a team was just a beautiful thing to see. They all joined in, even when they didn't have to.
"I had my soul mate, Sam, next to me and the heart of the maternity unit there just waiting for Amelia to be born.
"There was a lot of love in that room. Angels don't just have wings, they wear nurse's uniforms.
"I had Eli's teddy with me, so I had his support too."
Zara and Sam have found ways to honour Eli since his passing, such as his inclusion in their other children's names, but found this slightly trickier with their daughter.
When a friend pointed out Eli's name fitting perfectly inside of their daughter's name, they could not believe the 'happy accident'.
Born on New Year's Day, Amelia had managed to honour her brother in what seemed like a miraculous coincidence.
The new-mum described Eli as a 'guardian angel' watching over the family, as she said: "I don't want Eli looking down and thinking that he has broken me.
"I think if you look at it too negatively, you just break as a person.
"You want to try and enjoy every moment as hard as it is.
"He was the one that made me a mum and I want him to be proud of me."
Looking forward, Zara and Sam expressed optimism for the future and their new life as a family of five.
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