Amazing New Year’s birth in Croatia as twins born in different years

Every year, we eagerly await the news of the first babies born in the year, and this year we have a truly special story. 

The first babies in Split, but also in Croatia, are two twin sisters. One born in the final minutes of 2023, and the other in the first minutes of 2024.

The first twin was born at 11:59 p.m. on December 31, and the second on January 1, just a minute after midnight. 

The twin sisters were born on different days, in different months, and even different years. 

Such a situation has never been experienced by Prof. Dr. Damir Roje, the head of the Department of Perinatology at the Split University Hospital, Slobodna Dalmacija reported.

“It was truly an unusual situation last night when the twins were born. It will be a charming situation in the family where one girl will celebrate her birthday in the old year, and the other in the new year, and the twin sisters will be of different ages, one in 2023, and the other in 2024,” said Roje.

He also revealed that in the Split maternity ward during 2023, 3091 deliveries were performed, and a total of 4007 children were born. It seems that the Split maternity ward has taken the first place in the number of deliveries in Croatia.

“I cannot speak with certainty until the data is published, but I think this is the only maternity ward in Croatia that will have over 4000 newborns in the previous year. We are truly the largest in Croatia in terms of the number of births. We are a tertiary centre, one of four in Croatia, responsible for the most complex pregnancies in the area from Zadar to Dubrovnik. We had 94 fewer deliveries than the previous year, but compared to 2023, I can freely say that this difference may fall into the category of statistical error, as the constant figure of around 4000 born children has been maintained for the last 15 years,” he concluded.

As tradition dictates, the girls and their mother were also visited by County Prefect Blaženko Boban, who is also thrilled with this unusual situation.

“I wish the Split maternity ward as much work as possible. When they have more work, then we know that the demographic picture in Croatia will turn around,” said the prefect, adding that he is happy that the number of births this year was higher than the previous one.