MATERNITY wards across Hampshire were extra busy on Christmas Day this year with 14 tots being welcomed by excited fathers and exhausted mothers – twice the festive average.

The Burrell family from Winchester welcomed daughter Sophie, weighing 8lb 3oz at 5.59am at Royal Hampshire County Hospital.

At the Princess Anne Hospital in Southampton, Emma Westbury, 46, a civil servant from Chandler’s Ford, had her son at 3.30pm.

She said that she and her partner had not settled on a name yet, and the staff had taken to calling him ‘Baby Westbury’ for the time being.

Emma added: “We have a shortlist of three possible names but we wanted to spend a few days with him first before deciding, to see which one suits him best.”

Doctors Emma and Ben Bowsher, from Winchester, welcomed their daughter weighing 6lb 11oz at 5.10pm.

They said they had not decided on a name yet.

They said: “She’s super cute and we love her. The staff have been amazing, we would like to thank everyone.”