The very first baby to be born in a Mpumalanga on New Year’s Day, a boy whose mother is 20 years old, was born at the Tintswalo Hospital in Acornhoek in the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality at 00:01.
A total of 154 babies, 78 boys and 76 girls, were born on January 1.
Three girls, all aged 15, each gave birth to their babies. They were the youngest of all the mothers to give birth in Mpumalanga.
This prompted the MEC for health, Sasekani Manzini, to direct the newly appointed director of forensic healthcare services to consolidate all the teenage mothers that have delivered babies.
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“This is so that together with law enforcement agencies, traditional leadership and other stakeholders we can collectively address this matter,” said Manzini during her visit to Rob Ferreira Hospital in the City of Mbombela to celebrate and welcome the newborns.
She pampered the mothers with baby hampers and applauded the healthcare workers, especially the midwives, in all three districts of the province for their continued dedication to delivering healthy babies.
She said the Department of Health (DoH) was proud to announce that there were no stillbirths reported in the province.
According to Manzini, the reason for this is that the DoH had worked with expecting mothers to take antenatal classes.
These classes were very beneficial to the women, and they started them before the 20-week mark of their pregnancy. “This contributed towards the reduction of the maternal and child mortality rate,” said Manzini.
In connection with the teenage mothers, she urged the public to report incidents of statutory rape. “The government will intensify its programmes aimed at educating youngsters about teenage pregnancy and the related dangers,” Manzini said.
She said 123 of the births on Wednesday, January 1, were normal deliveries, while only 31 babies were delivered via caesarean sections.
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Meanwhile, the national president of the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa), Kgoshi Lameck Mokoena, weighed in on several issues related to the newborn babies.
“On behalf of all members of Contralesa and the chiefs in the province, I welcome all children born on New Year’s Day, as well as those who were born on Christmas Day,” said Mokoena earlier today, January 2.
However, he said he was feeling sad about the children who gave birth to babies. “I call on all parents to be responsible for their kids, especially their daughters. Many years back children were afraid to come back home during late hours, but now things have changed,” said Mokoena.
He blamed social media as one of the issues that has resulted in children doing “things reserved for adults”.
“We must dissuade children from watching porn, as they end up wanting to practice what they have watched,” Mokoena advised.
He also blamed the issue of child-headed households, saying the children in these families did as they wished. He added that another challenge was that parents failed to take care of their kids who then rely on ‘big’ men for financial support.
“Because of their vulnerability, they end up having sex at an early age. Some get pregnant at taverns where men buy them liquor in exchange for sex later. Others want children in order to receive child grants from the government,” Mokoena said.
He suggested there be a unit to work on awareness campaigns to discourage children from this type of behaviour. Mokoena called on societal leaders who have been given public platforms on which to speak, to make sure they talked about teenage pregnancy.
“Whether you are a politician, a chief, an induna, a school principal, a pastor or any other community leader, don’t finish your address without discouraging teenage pregnancy,” said Mokoena. “Let’s join hands and condemn these behaviours, which are turning us into a charity state,” concluded Mokoena.
