‘New house, new baby’ is a saying we’ve all heard and one that’s come true for a Kent couple – on the same day!

Brandon Contant, 26, and his partner Sammie Lewis, 25, from Sheppey were due to have their first child on Christmas Day.

A week later, the couple welcomed their son to the world at 12.10am on New Year’s Day – he was the first baby to be born at Medway hospital on the first day of 2021. The baby boy, named Elliott Matthew Contant, weighed 7lbs 12oz.

Proud dad Brandon said: “It was all natural, Sammie didn’t have to be induced and she only had gas and air. She as in labour for 27 hours in total.”

Brandon said “everything went to plan” but added that both he and Sammie had found it “quite difficult” going through the pregnancy and birth in the middle of a pandemic.

“I wasn’t able to attend any of the midwife appointments or scans, which was hard for us both,” he said. “And all of this was brand new for Sammie and she had to go through it on her own. But the support from the hospital was brilliant.”

The couple are now back at their new home in Sheerness with their little boy, who they said was “doing well”.

“We actually moved in the day Elliott was born,” Brandon said.

“I chucked the sofa in while Sammie was having contractions and had to rush back.”

“We couldn’t even view the house because of the Tier 4 restrictions, so we just had to go with it. “It’s been tough - but we got there in the end,” he added.

James Devine, chief executive of Medway NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The new year is always a time for hope and new beginnings, and I’d like to congratulate Samantha and her family in having the first baby born at the trust in 2021.

"We have just under 5,000 births each year and every baby that is born with us is considered precious."

Read more: All the latest news from Sheerness