News

"Leap Year" Baby Born at Millard Fillmore Suburban

Released: 3/1/2012

Pictured above: Millard Fillmore Suburban’s first "Leap Year" baby, Cooper Matthew Francis and new mom Jill Hann.

Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital introduced their first “Leap Year” baby, Cooper Matthew Francis.  Little Cooper came into the world at 5:15 a.m. yesterday February 29th, weighing eight pounds and six ounces (8lbs; 6 oz). He is 21 ¼ inches long.  The proud parents, Jill Hann and Matthew Francis, are from Perry, New York.

February 29^th, known as a Leap Day in the Gregorian calendar, is a date that occurs in most years that are evenly divisible by four, such as 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016. Traditionally, February has 28 days; in leap years there are 29 days.  For babies like Cooper, having a February 29 birthday means they only celebrate their actual birthday once every four years!

According to published reports, your chances of being born on Leap Day are about 1 in 1,500.  If you are born on a Leap Day, most states – for driver’s license purposes - consider March 1st the official day.

There are about 187,000 people in the United States and 4 million people in the world who were born on Leap Day.