Cape Town – More than 160 babies were delivered at different public hospitals in Gauteng on New Year’s Day, the Department of Health announced on Sunday.
A total of 167 babies were delivered between midnight and midday.
Eighty-eight of the bundles of joy were males and 79 were females. The number included three sets of twins.
Gauteng Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko visited Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital to welcome the newly born babies and presented the mothers with gifts.
“We are encouraging all the mothers who have just delivered their bundles of joy to make use of the Department of Home Affairs offices that are in-house at our facilities to register their babies before going home.
“We are also encouraging them to exclusively breast-feed their babies for the first six months, as breast milk contains all nutritional substances and antibodies babies need to grow and protect them from illnesses. They must also ensure that their little ones are immunised at the right times in order to protect them against diseases such as polio, hepatitis, measles and meningitis,” said MEC Nkomo-Ralehoko.
The department said academic hospitals delivered 15 babies – with seven born at Chris Hani Baragwanath and four at Dr George Mukhari.
Tertiary hospitals delivered 25 babies with Thembisa Hospital welcoming 20 newborns and Kalafong Hospital five.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
