B.C.'s first baby of 2022 born in Victoria

The first baby born in British Columbia in 2022 was delivered four minutes after midnight Saturday at Victoria General Hospital.

The six-pound, six-ounce newborn belongs to parents Shawna White and Ishmael Grimwood, according to a statement from Island Health.

The health authority said the baby boy is the couple's first child, and had not yet been named as of late Saturday morning.

This is the first time in several years that B.C.'s first baby of the year has been born outside the Lower Mainland.

According to the British Columbia Lottery Corporation, which took bets on which of 23 B.C. hospitals would see 2022's first birth, Victoria General had the best odds of any hospital outside of Metro Vancouver.

BCLC put Victoria General's odds at nine-to-one, on par with Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster, which saw B.C.'s first babies of 2019 and 2020.

The hospitals that were most likely to see the first birth of 2022 were B.C. Women's Hospital - at four-to-one - and Surrey Memorial Hospital, at five-to-one.

More than 3,000 babies are born at Victoria General Hospital each year, according to the Victoria Hospitals Foundation.