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“A balm for the soul”
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fiji

In a viral and hilariously maddening tweet, Neil deGrasse Tyson recently informed millions of disappointed revelers that New Year's Day, i.e. Jan. 1, is an astronomically insignificant event.

In other words, it doesn't mark any sort of cosmic milestone and might as well just be a random date on the calendar.


(He does it every year. And every year, it annoys everyone who just wants to have a good time.)

To most of us, the new year is a moment of huge significance. It symbolizes a fresh start and hope for a better world, however arbitrary it may be. And that might explain our fascination with babies who are born at or very close to midnight on New Year's Eve.

According to UNICEF, 2018's first baby is a girl from Fiji named Vilisi.

She was born healthy and happy after about six hours of labor, and weighed just over 7 pounds at birth. She joins around 386,000 other babies around the world who were also born on Jan. 1, but she managed to edge them all out to claim the title of "year's first baby."

On top of that, she's already ready for her close-up. Get to know baby Vilisi in the heartwarming video below:

Welcoming the first baby of 2018!

We'd like to wish health and happiness for Joana Sovocala and her daughter Vilisi, the first baby of 2018! Wait for those little sneezes at the end! (w/ UNICEF)

Posted by Upworthy on Thursday, January 4, 2018

It's staggering to think about the hundreds of thousands of new babies joining the world each day. The new year is a perfect time to think about how we can make that world a better and safer place for them.

According to UNICEF, last year over 2,600 newborns per day didn't live past their first 24 hours, with the majority of those deaths being entirely preventable. With medicine and technology as advanced as they are, that's a number that has to change.

The World Health Organization writes that one of the most critical issues is simply a lack of care, with new moms and babies not having access to skilled doctors and nurses that could treat common issues like basic infections or pneumonia.

The good news? Campaigns are underway to bring better and more affordable care to parts of the world. Little Vilisi, aside from becoming a viral superstar, is healthy and thriving. Every kid deserves that chance.

If you want to learn more about how you can support those efforts, start here.