First Babies Born at Lois Hole Hospital for Women

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MAY 21, 2010

Baris Ismayil made history on May 16. But he was too busy sleeping to take notice.

Baby Baris was among the first babies born at the new Lois Hole Hospital for Women when he was welcomed into the world at 10:10 a.m., Sunday morning. Baris’s mother Shanawa Ismayil went into labour in the wee hours of Sunday morning and arrived at the Royal Alexandra Hospital’s Women’s Pavilion to have her baby. As it turned out, May 16 was the scheduled patient move-in for the Lois Hole Hospital for Women, a day where patients from the Royal Alexandra Hospital’s 60 year old Women’s Pavilion were transferred to the new women’s hospital.

Several hours later, Shanawa was on a stretcher being moved – along with more than 50 other patients – into the new Lois Hole Hospital for Women. “It was fun,” joked Shanawa. “Like being in the movies!”

It took just under three hours to move 55 patients from the old facility into the new hospital, said Joanna Pawlyshyn, vice-president of the Royal Alexandra Hospital.

"The move went very smoothly, and that was thanks to the tremendous support of our staff,” said Joanna. “Patients had breakfast in the old facility and lunch in the new."

Shanawa said she is glad she got a chance to see the Lois Hole Hospital for Women during the public open house last month, because taking care of her new baby meant she was in no condition to do a lot of walking Monday.

"It’s a beautiful place. I love the rooms - they are big, nice and very family-orientated," she said.

Baby Hilal Kaddoura has the distinction of being the last baby born in the Royal Alexandra’s Women’s Pavilion, as mother Nadine gave birth at 2:45 a.m. on May 16. These two beautiful little babies have carried the torch from one era of women’s health care to another at the Royal Alexandra Hospital.

Congratulations to both the Ismayil and Kaddoura families on the new additions to their families.

First babies born at LHHWPhoto: Shanawa Ismayil waves from her gurney as she is moved from the old Women’s Pavilion at the Royal Alexandra Hospital and into the Lois Hole Hospital for Women on May 16.