FIVE proud brothers are celebrating after their mother gave birth to a girl on New Year's Day.

Denise Khan was visiting her parents in Middlesbrough with her husband, Mohammed, and their five sons, when she experienced labour pains at about 12.50am yesterday.

The 30-year-old, who was not due to give birth for another month, went to the town's James Cook University Hospital for a check-up and, three hours later, was the proud mother of a 5lb 4oz baby girl the couple have named Latifah.

Mrs Khan said: "I had an idea the baby was going to be a girl but I did not want to build my hopes up.

"To be truthful, it would not have mattered if she had been another boy, as long as he was healthy."

She said: "She is going to be absolutely spoilt rotten by her brothers, who no doubt will dote on her."

The family, who are originally from Middlesbrough, now live in Crawley, near London.

Meanwhile, maternity staff were kept busy as a County Durham hospital experienced a New Year's Day baby boom.

The first arrival of 2004 was Kieran Matthews, born only an hour into the New Year in the maternity ward at the University Hospital of North Durham.

His mother, Terri Matthews, 17, of Haswell Plough, in east Durham, went into labour at 6.45am on Wednesday.

She was taken from the home she shares with her parents, sister Lisa, 18, and brother Carl, 14, and was taken to hospital by ambulance, accompanied by her mother, Kathleen.

Her son, Kieran, weighed 6lb 14 oz.

He was the first of about a dozen babies expected to arrive on the ward yesterday.

Five women had given birth by the afternoon and five were in labour last night.

Midwife Andrea Gilchrist said: "We have been rushed off our feet. For New Year's Day it is really busy.

"Some years we get none at all and others, like this one, we have loads in."