Flowery Branch woman gives birth to first baby born at Northside Hospital-Forsyth

CUMMING - Northside Hospital-Forsyth opened its long-awaited Women's Center on Wednesday, and a Flowery Branch woman gave birth to the first baby born there. It was, in fact, the first baby born at a Forsyth County hospital in more than 25 years.

"We are so excited to open our Women's Center and to finally be able to offer maternity and newborn services to Forsyth and surrounding communities," said Lynn Jackson, administrator, Northside Hospital-Forsyth. "It's been a very long road to this point, but the hard work and dedication of our staff has paid off and we are very proud of our new, state-of-the-art facility."

At 12 a.m., staff was ready and eagerly awaiting the arrival of the first patient. At 7:44 a.m., Hudson Lee Bickers was born to parents Allyson and Russell Bickers of Flowery Branch. He weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces and was 20 inches long. Both mother and baby are doing well.

"We were thrilled to be the first," Allyson Bickers said. "Everyone has been so generous and accommodating. It's been a wonderful experience."

In celebration of the delivery of the first baby, Northside gave the Bickers family a number of gifts, including bouquets of flowers and balloons, a wooden rocking horse, a rolling duffle bag, a handmade baby blanket (courtesy of the Northside Hospital-Forsyth Auxiliary) and $500 toward a Georgia 529 College Savings Plan account.

The first Forsyth County family to deliver in the new Women's Center was Robert and Natasha Sindoni of Cumming. Anthony Robert Sindoni was born at 9:54 a.m., weighing in at 7 pounds, 3 ounces.

Masyn Leigh Wright was the first baby girl born at the new facility. Waylin and Jamie Wright of Cumming welcomed their first child at 10:50 p.m. She weighed 6 pounds, 8 ounces.

In 2007, more than 1,600 babies were born to Forsyth residents at Northside's Atlanta campus. Northside expects to exceed this number in the first year of the new Women's Center in Forsyth. A total of four babies were born at the Northside Hospital-Forsyth's new Women's Center on its opening day.

"Northside Hospital has been the comforting, familiar presence for mothers-to-be in Atlanta for more than a generation," said Melissa Sugg, manager of women's services, Northside Hospital-Forsyth. "We hope that, with our expanded services here in Forsyth, more families will choose to have their baby with us and allow us to provide A Lifetime of Care for them and their entire family."

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