Pretoria – The National Department of Health announced on Tuesday that 1 708 babies were born on Christmas Day at public health facilities in South Africa.
“This number consists of 840 baby boys and 868 baby girls,” said the department, adding that it, “congratulates the health workers, especially the midwives for successful and safe delivery of these bundles of joy, and wishes all parents, including more than 145 teen mothers all the best throughout parenting journey”.
Last year the country`s public health facilities delivered 1 414 babies on Christmas Day.
Departmental Spokesperson Foster Mohale said it was scaling up human milk banking for survival and healthy growth for babies born to mothers who are unable to breastfeed to ensure no baby is deprived of nutritious breast milk.
Newborns on Christmas Day by province:
- Eastern Cape – 221
- North West – 121
- KwaZulu-Natal – 255
- Limpopo – 209
- Mpumalanga – 161
- Free State – 76
- Western Cape – 231
- Northern Cape – 47
- Gauteng – 387
TOTAL 1 708 babies born on Christmas Day
