Whitney Sanjari and her husband, Ben Upham of Tomah said they were excited that their son, Emmett Kian Upham was the first baby born at Tomah Health in 2026. Emmett arrived at 1:11 pm. Jan. 1 weighing 8 pounds 12 oz. and measuring 21 inches long. “It was a big surprise because I was due a week and a couple of days ago, so we kind of thought we’d have more of a Christmas baby than a New Year baby,” said Whitney.” Yes, we were hoping earlier for Whitney’s sake” added Ben.
Both Whitney and Ben are employees at Tomah Health. Ben is the hospital’s Spanish interpreter while Whitney is the hospital’s community health educator.
“I’ve worked at Tomah Health for a long time and worked with a lot of these people that helped us have our baby. I think it’s a really special thing,” said Whitney. “Once we delivered, everybody was crying in the room and everyone that came in was crying. It was just a really special experience to have a baby and with our work family.”
“It makes such a difference because you can tell that the staff love their job and really care about it,” said Ben. “I think that makes a big difference for us because it wasn’t just like a job. They were genuinely invested in in our care.”
Emmett is the couple’s first baby.
As the first baby born in 2026, the couple received a gift basket from the hospital’s Women’s Health Services.
Tomah Health Women’s health director Tammie Schroeder said 192 babies were born at the hospital last year including 96 boys and 96 girls. She said the most popular boy baby names born at Tomah Health last year included Harvey and James, while Amelia, Clara, Ella, Hazel and Rosalie
were the top girl’s names.
