Collie couple Rinay Swallow and Rhys Chappell welcome St John of God Bunbury Hospital’s first baby for 2023

As people celebrated the new year, one lucky couple brought in the new year by giving birth to the first baby to be born at St John of God Bunbury Hospital for 2023. Collie couple Rinay Swallow and Rhys Chappell welcomed their second child Beau, who came into the world during the late hours of Monday evening. Ms Swallow said it was not her first time at the rodeo, having already given birth to the couple’s first child Spencer 20 months prior, and Beau was due on New Years Day. “He took a little while but we got there in the end,” she said. “We woke up on Sunday and I was having tightenings and little niggles here and there so we thought we would wait at first. “We waited all night and then my contractions got to about four minutes on Monday morning so we drove down because we were in Collie. “We got there and they all just went everywhere, didn’t regulate so we were here for a little while but I wasn’t dilating so we had the option to either go home or stay but we stuck around. “Later that night, I got checked again and I was finally dilating enough to get things moving and a few hours later he was born.” Once their midwife informed the couple Beau was the first baby to be born at the hospital, Mr Chappell and Ms Swallow thought someone else had already claimed the special milestone. “At first we didn’t think much of it because we thought somebody else might have given birth before us but it’s pretty cool I guess,” Ms Swallow said.