Mpumalanga MEC for Health Sasekani Manzini welcomed newborn babies at Shongwe Hospital. Picture: Facebook/Mpumalanga Department of Health New Year celebrations were marked by hundreds of births across the country, including mothers as young as 14 and 17 delivering newborns. Healthcare officials have once again stressed sexual education, community engagement, and early interventions to reduce teenage pregnancies.
They also aim to support young families. This comes as hundreds of mothers gave birth to new bundles of joy to ring in the New Year. KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane said two 16-year-old girls gave birth to babies at Benedictine Hospital in Nongoma and Queen Nandi Regional Hospital in Empangeni.
Simelane expressed her disappointment with the number of children having children at a young age. “This is also something that disturbs us the most. So, since the sun hasn’t set, we have 21 young mums,” the MEC said.
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“This is very disturbing. We can’t win this war alone, but we will win it by cooperating with the community.” By about 3 pm, the KZN Health Department reported that public facilities in the province had delivered 179 babies. This included 91 girls and 88 boys.
The first child, a boy weighing 1.8 kg, was born at Queen Nandi Hospital. The fourth baby was born at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Phoenix, Durban, at 12:43 am.
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