Many mothers around the country are holding bundles of New Year joy, as provinces start reporting their annual totals of January first babies.
The earliest birth reported so far in 2019 was at Nquthu in northern KwaZulu-Natal, where a boy was born at one minute past midnight.
The North West has reported 10 New Year babies born so far at facilities in the province. Six of the babies are males while four are females.
The provincial health department says all the mothers and their young ones are healthy and that numbers may increase during the course of the day.
North West Health Department spokesperson Tebogo Lekgethwane says, “We are happy that thus far we do not have any incidents of maternal or infant mortality. Babies and mothers dying during birth is one of the things that we do not want as a department and we have put all mechanisms in place to prevent that, which is one of things the MEC will be looking into today as he visits Klerksdorp and Potch hospitals to ensure that all the babies and mothers are safe. There are no challenges with regard to their health.”
Limpopo Health spokesperson Neil Shikwambana says 50 babies were born after midnight in various hospitals in the Mopani, Vhembe and Sekhukhune districts. Thirty of the babies are girls and 20 boys.
Shikwambana says they expect to get consolidated number of New Year babies as the day progresses.
Meanwhile, 262 babies were born in Limpopo on Christmas Day. 138 of the babies are girls and 124 are boys. The Limpopo Health Department was however concerned that statistics show a high number of teenage mothers in the province.
Watch related video below
