Meghan Markle and Prince Harry welcomed baby Lilibet at a female-founded hospital in Santa Barbara

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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry welcomed baby Lilibet at a female-founded hospital in Santa Barbara
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry in 2018.Getty/Chris Jackson
  • Meghan Markle gave birth to her second child with Prince Harry, Lilibet Diana, on Friday.
  • Lilibet was born at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California.
  • The hospital was founded by 50 women in 1888 and delivers an estimated 2,400 babies per year.
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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex welcomed their second child on Friday at a Santa Barbara, California, hospital that was founded more than 130 years ago by 50 women, according to its website.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced in a statement that their second child, Lilibet "Lili" Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, was born on Friday at 11:40 am.

Harry and Markle named their daughter after inspired by her great-grandmother, the Queen, and her late grandmother, Princess Diana. The Queen's family nickname is Lilibet.

Lilibet was delivered at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, which was built in 1888 by women who "recognized it was time for the growing community to have a hospital." According to the hospital's website, the women initially raised $6,000 to build the city's first hospital.

A post shared by Cottage Health (@cottagehealth)

"The name 'Cottage' was based on the original idea of constructing individual cottages to house various departments. This idea proved to be too costly, so a modest 25-bed redwood building was constructed," the website said.

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The hospital officially opened in 1891, and the dedicated women worked through some of history's most difficult times, the website said. The hospital was a fixture of the community amid the 1918 flu epidemic, the 1925 earthquakes, floods, and local fires, according to its website.

Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital was rebuilt in 2012 and is now the largest healthcare facility between Los Angeles and San Francisco, with more than 600 physicians on staff.

The hospital, which is located less than 20 minutes from Montecito - where Harry and Markle live - delivers an estimated 2,400 babies a year, according to its website. The facility is also a 519-bed acute care hospital, according to a press release obtained by Insider.

The hospital was named one of the most beautiful in the country in 2014 by Soliant Health, which releases an annual rankings list of US hospitals. Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital was designed with the Spanish Colonial style and is filled with artwork from local artists.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry welcomed baby Lilibet at a female-founded hospital in Santa Barbara
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle welcomed their newborn daughter at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California.Courtesy of Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital

The hospital's birthing rooms are equipped with a TV, WiFi, a rocking chair, and meal services. The hospital also has jacuzzi tubs on-site that are used for "hydrotherapy and labor support," the website said.

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The hospital's price list published on its website said that a phase-four birth and recovery cost an estimated total of $10,000.

In a statement announcing the birth of Lilibet, Harry and Markle said that "she is more than we could have ever imagined."

"We remain grateful for the love and prayers we've felt from across the globe. Thank you for your continued kindness and support during this very special time for our family," the couple said in the statement.

Markle and Harry welcomed their first child, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, on May 6, 2019.

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