1 764 Babies Born on New Year’s Day in SA, 65 Teen Girls Gave Birth
- On 1 January, 2022, 1 764 babies were born in South Africa, 175 of which were born at public hospitals in the Western Cape
- The first of the 175 babies was a boy born three minutes past midnight to Phumeza Jezile at Mowbray Maternity Hospital
- The KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC expressed concern that in her province, five girls who became mothers on New Year's Day are teenagers
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CAPE TOWN - New Year's Day is traditionally a day that signifies new beginnings. No more so than on 1 January 2022, when 1 764 babies were born in South Africa, 175 of which were born at public hospitals in the Western Cape.
82 of the babies born in the Western Cape were girls and 93 were boys. The first of the 175 babies was a boy born three minutes past midnight to Phumeza Jezile at Mowbray Maternity Hospital. Jezile's son weighed 4.3 kg at birth and was 50cm tall.
According to IOL, a set of twins were born on New Year's Day at Tygerberg Hospital. Dr Nomafrench Mbombo, the provincial health MEC, extended her congratulations to the families of the newborns.
Source: Getty Images
Teenage pregnancy and New Year's Day
65 of the new mothers are teenage girls between 13 and 19 years old, TimesLIVE reports. Nomagugu Simelane, the KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC, expressed her concern that in her province five girls who became mothers on New Year's Day are between 15 and 18 years old.
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"We once again call upon parents, guardians, educators and community leaders to have open and frank conversations with their children about the benefits of abstinence and responsible sexual behaviour," Simelane said.
Simelane emphasised that an adult man who has sexual relations with a female younger than 16 years old has statutorily raped her, as per the law of South Africa, which the MEC said should be strongly enforced by the authorities.
Reactions to New Year's Day births
@jo97243785 remarked:
"The Hawks are searching for escaped fathers."
@Nkuleh_G remarked:
"Wow!"
@tumisangmafora said:
"You people have been busy."
@Penxenxe joked:
"Lockdown babies."
Mzansi welcomes 240 Christmas Day newborns with open arms
In other news about babies born during the festive season, Briefly News reported that a whopping 240 babies were born in the Eastern Cape on Christmas Day, which saw an increase of nine babies compared to last year.
The first baby was born at 12:12am at Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in Mthatha.
Health MEC Nomakosazana Meth said that the tally indicated an increase of nine babies compared to last year.
Source: Briefly News
