Joy as parents welcome New Year's Day babies in Leicester

As the world marks the beginning of a new year, some families are celebrating 2025 with special new arrivals.

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) welcomed its first babies of the year in the early hours of Wednesday.

While many of us were counting down the minutes to see in the new year, Yashkumar Patel, 26, had been counting down the hours to meet his daughter.

The first-time father and his wife, Niraliben Patel, 28, were given a New Year's Day due date and said they had "hoped and prayed for such a blessing".