MEC Manzini holding one of the babies
By Kopano Dibakwane
A total of 30 Christmas babies were successfully delivered in all the 3 Mpumalanga districts of Ehlanzeni, Gert Sibande and Nkangala on Monday 25 December.
This was revealed by Mpumalanga MEC for Health, Sasekani Manzini, during her courtesy visit to Middleburg Hospital, under the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality, to congratulate the lucky mothers and their bubbly bundles of joy, also to contribute gifts.
Manzini applauded all the Health workers, particularly Midwives, for their dedication in administering the deliveries. She proudly announced that the first Christmas baby was born in Tonga Hospital, under Nkomazi Local Municipality.
The female baby was reportedly born at 00:h007 on Monday morning, followed by another female infant born 16 minutes later(00:h16) at Middleburg Hospital.
” Middleburg Hospital so far has delivered 3 Christmas babies and we are here to celebrate the day with the babies and their mothers. We are also proud to announce that there is no still birth reported so far and this is because we have been doing well in the reduction of Maternal and Child Mortality rate,” said Manzini.
She furthermore said that Maternal and Women’s health trends, Child health, the usage of PHC and Hospital efficiency, show that the Department is heading towards the right direction in ensuring that the people continue to receive desirable health care services.
The overall total of female infants was sitting on 14, followed by 15 male infants. Twenty-eight(28) were normal vaginal deliveries, while only 1 infant was a Caesarean delivery.
Seventeen(17) infants were delivered in Ehlanzeni hospitals, 4 in Gert Sibande and 7 in Nkangala. The hospitals with more deliveries were Tintswalo (3), Shongwe(3) and Piet Retired(3).
MEC Manzini wished all the mothers and the entire population of Mpumalanga a merry Christmas.
