Combating coronavirus: Eid baby sparks hope, says father on Covid-19 frontline in UAE

Abu Dhabi - Being a doctor on the Covid frontlines, Dr Al Marzouqi almost thought he would miss his child's birth as he hasn't seen his family in the past few months.

Four babies were born in the first few hours of Eid at Danat Al Emarat Hospital for Women and Children in Abu Dhabi. And among the parents who were thrilled to welcome their bundles of joy was Dr Abdullah Al Marzouqi, an internal medicine physician, who is on the frontline of Covid-19 battle.
For him, his baby Ali - born at 5am - comes with "big hopes".
Being a doctor on the Covid frontlines, Dr Al Marzouqi almost thought he would miss his child's birth as he hasn't seen his family in the past few months.
"I haven't seen my family for the past three months, except for very few times. I am at high risk to be exposed to the virus so I had to take the Covid-19 test each time before meeting them, and was quarantined as per the standard practices. I was lucky enough to witness the birth of my child," he said.
Dr Al Marzouqi will soon be back on duty to support the UAE's efforts to combat the virus, but for now, he is relishing every moment with Ali.
"We were expecting our child to be born a bit later but, with Allah's blessings, we welcomed our baby on the first day of Eid. We named him Ali, after his grandfather. His brother Sultan and sister Fatima are excited to meet him," he said.
"Our baby comes with big hopes, and we believe the better time is coming, and the spread of the virus will decrease. It is my role and everyone's role in this community to commit to the guidelines that help limit the spread of the virus.
"We would like to thank the hospital for the care, especially during these times ensuring continuity of care to all pregnant women and newborns and beyond."
Zayed Al Mansouri, an Emirati father, named his baby Khalifa, born at 2.33am. "My wife's due date was last week but with Allah's will she started having labour symptoms on the last day of Ramadan and here we are now celebrating the birth of our child. He weighed 2.4kg. Baby and my wife are in good health," he said.
The second baby was born a few minutes after Fajr prayer for the family of Mohamed Abdullah Jadawi.
"We named our newborn Khawla. She weighed 3.26kg and is in good health, thanks to Allah. We were expecting her in five days, but with Allah's will she has doubled our Eid celebrations," Jadawi said.
Hospital CEO Mariano Gonzalez said there were 419 newborns in holy month, of which 191 were Emiratis. There were 13 twins and one triplet. On the last day of Ramadan, six babies were born. And by the end of the first day of Eid, seven more newborns were expected.
ashwani@khaleejtimes.com