The BirthPlace at Lakeland Hospital in Niles has welcomed southwest Michigan’s first baby of 2017. April Jacobs, of Dowagiac, is the proud new mother of daughter Addison Jacobs. Baby Jacobs was born at at 4:12 a.m. on Sunday, weighing in at 7 pounds, 3 ounces and measuring 19 inches long. In keeping with their annual tradition of celebrating the first baby of the year, the Lakeland Auxiliary provided the family with a gift basket full of baby items valued at $100. Lakeland Health says it delivered 1,540 babies in its St. Joseph and Niles hospitals in the last fiscal year.
