AVMC Welcomes First Baby of 2017

While residents of the Antelope Valley were ringing in the new year with family and friends, Antelope Valley Medical Center (AVMC) was welcoming its first baby of 2017. Born at 12:57 a.m. on January 1, 2017, John Luke Gomez weighed in at 5 pounds and measured 18.5 inches. He is the sixth child of John and Lucia Gomez of Lancaster and is their third child born at AVMC.

Thousands of babies are born annually at AVMC, and the cycle begins anew each January with the celebration of the first birth of the year. John Luke was delivered by James Ngo, M.D. "We are so excited that John Luke arrived on New Year’s Day," said Lucia. He is a fitting finale to their family whose five siblings range in age from 2 to 16 years.

As the community’s first baby of 2017, John Luke and his parents were given a large gift basket from AVMC that included a variety of baby items, such as an infant car seat, blankets, clothes, shoes, supplies, crib accessories and stuffed animals.

Tens of thousands of Antelope Valley residents have been brought into the world at AVMC since its doors opened in 1955. In fact, more than 5,400 newborns were delivered at AVMC’s Women and Infants Pavilion in the past year alone. "We had a great experience with all three pregnancies at Antelope Valley Medical Center," Lucia said. "The nurses are awesome and took great care of both me and our baby."

The Women and Infants Pavilion, AVMC’s spacious maternity care facility, houses a complete array of obstetrical and newborn services. It features 39 private "Couplet Care" rooms that are furnished with special beds and bassinets so that mother and baby can stay in the same room until they go home. The facility is also home to a level 3b community NICU equipped with 20 private rooms to care for newborns with special needs as well as three technologically advanced surgery suites.

Two years ago AVMC was designated a Baby-Friendly Birth Facility, which means that the hospital has met the gold standard in maternity care operations. And for the past six years, AVMC has been acknowledged for its outstanding maternity services by receiving the Healthgrades® 5-Star Maternity Care Excellence Award. This award recognizes hospitals that provide consistent high-quality care for women and their babies during pregnancy, delivery and the first few days after delivery.