Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu has revealed that 374 babies have been abandoned in Gauteng in the past three years.
Worst affected was local hospital, Leratong where 100 babies were abandoned over this time period.
This shock figure surfaced in a written reply from Mahlangu to Jack Bloom, the MPL DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health.
According to Mahlangu, 147 babies were abandoned in Gauteng hospitals in 2013, followed by 124 abandoned babies in 2014 and 108 babies from January to September this year.
This averages out to about 11 babies who are abandoned every month in Gauteng.
Other hard-hit hospitals include the following:
· Far East Rand Hospital – 47 babies;
· Chris Hani Baragwanath – 30 babies;
· Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg – 25 babies;
· Tembisa Hospital – 19 babies;
· Rahima Moosa, Mamelodi and Bheki Mlangeni hospitals – 17 babies each; and
· Tshwane District and Thelle Mogoerane hospitals – 11 babies each.
Currently, there are 52 abandoned babies that have been abandoned for more than a month, of which 30 are in Chris Hani, seven at Tembisa Hospital and five at Thelle Mogoerane Hospital (formerly New Natalspruit).
Babies are left at hospitals for a variety of reasons, including teenage pregnancy and unwanted pregnancy, lack of family support, poverty, deserted by the father, fear of parents and resentment.
The department also notes a trend of babies being picked up in the veld, HIV status of parents and foreign mothers.
The cost of caring for these babies is about R2000 a day.
Mahlangu says the following steps are being taken to deal with the problem:
· Ensure that parents can be identified and contact details are confirmed;
· Ongoing educational talks on contraceptives and choice of termination at community level; Referring mothers to social workers to discuss alternative options like adoption; and
· Offering family therapy to deal with the situation.
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