69 babies born on New Year’s Day
The province welcomed a total of 36 girls and 33 boys on the first day of 2018
With 69 babies born in the province on New Year’s Day, Nonhlanhla Makhanya(40) was the only mother who delivered her bundle of joy at Lower Umfolozi Regional War Memorial Hospital in Empangeni.
Makhanya, from Gingindlovu, gave birth to a healthy baby girl at 3.14am at the maternity hospital on 1 January.
The province welcomed a total of 36 girls and 33 boys on the first day of 2018.
While KZN Health MEC Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo congratulated the new mothers across the province, he expressed concern and shock after it emerged that two 14-year-old mothers had given birth at Newcastle Provincial Hospital.
‘We wish to emphasise that there is no bonus for a teenager to fall pregnant. When someone who is aged under 18 falls pregnant, it poses a risk to the life of both the mother and her child. Most teenagers who fall pregnant don’t go back to school.
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‘Instead they give birth to more babies. Ultimately, they lose out in life. Young women who fall pregnant too early are also not giving a bright future to the children they give birth to. They perpetuate a cycle of poverty. It’s something that should not be happening,’ he said.
Two 15-year-olds, one 16-year-old and three 17-year-olds were also among the province’s youngest New Year’s Day mothers.
MEC Dhlomo said it has been established that young girls and women aged between 15-24 are at highest risk of being infected with HIV, usually owing to sexual relations with men who are much older than they are.
He said the department will continue to wage war against ‘Sugar Daddies/Blessers’ and also spearhead programmes such as “She Conquers’, which is aimed at helping young girls take charge of their own future through education and health literacy.
‘We have already had a number of young women talking about this. Some of them have had relationships with older men, and are now warning the young ones about the bad consequences of these inter-generational relationships.
‘We are saying to young women, the men who sleep with them do not do so out of love, but out of lust. Our message is, ‘You don’t need someone who will come into your life and yield negative results.’ We will not stop these campaigns. We will continue engaging with young people,’ Dhlomo said.
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