Regional hospital welcomes New Year’s Day babies
A total of 264 babies were born in the province on New Year’s Day.
While most people were preparing to usher in the new year last Friday, others were waiting to welcome their New Year’s Day babies into the world.
According to the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Department of Health, a total of 264 babies were born in the province on New Year’s Day.
Of the 264 newborns, 129 are happy, healthy baby girls while 135 are bouncing baby boys.
To commemorate the special day, KZN MEC for Health Nomagugu Simelane and Ugu Mayor Phumlile Mthiyane visited Port Shepstone Regional Hospital on January 1 to celebrate with parents and hand out gifts.
At the time of the event, Port Shepstone Regional Hospital saw one mother, Zinhle Chiliza (40) deliver her baby girl, weighing 2.59 kilograms. Zinhle named the baby Zanokuhle and the two were gifted with a baby hamper.
However later that day, three more mothers went on to give birth at the hospital as well.
In her speech, Simelane described the new year as a chance to rejuvenate the mind, body and soul.
“It is also a good time for us to start adopting good habits such as undergoing comprehensive health screening and testing, which you can do at our public health facilities, so that we may find out if there are any diseases that are creeping up on us,” she urged.
She also encouraged healthcare workers to uphold the public health sector values by respecting and treating every healthcare user in the same manner they would their own family members to be treated.
Finally, the MEC stressed concern over teenage pregnancies, as among the new mothers, five were aged between 15 and 18 years old.
“We cannot over-emphasise the risks that our girls are exposed to when they fall pregnant. Not only are they in danger of potentially fatal pregnancy-related ailments, but their prospects of fulfilling their potential as human beings are vastly diminished,” she explained.
Simelane encourages parents, guardians, educators and community leaders to have open and frank conversations with their children about the benefits of abstinence and responsible sexual behaviour.
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