By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
@GettyImages.
The Gauteng Department of Health has revealed the final numbers of babies born on Christmas Day for 2021.
The statistics were released by the department on Sunday and the final number was 403 babies.
According to the stats, Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital had the most births in Academic Hospitals, with a total of 44.
In tertiary hospitals, Tembisa Hospital had the most births with 35, 20 boys and 15 girls.
Regional and district hospitals in the province welcomed a total of 216 babies on Christmas Day.
Community healthcare centres delivered 24 boys and 26 girls, bringing the total number of babies born on Christmas Day to 50.
GAUTENG HEALTH FINAL STATISTICS ON BABIES BORN ON
CHRISTMAS DAY #ChristmasBabies pic.twitter.com/iMU51MOE9W— Gauteng Health (@GautengHealth) December 26, 2021
Meanwhile Limpopo health MEC Dr Phophi Ramathuba said she was disappointed and hoped authorities will take action against those who impregnated the teens.
“You can’t get consent from a 14-year-old. These young girls were raped. A 14-year-old should be playing with her peers, be in Sunday school for those who are churchgoing and also wearing her Christmas clothes and not be in a labour ward on Christmas Day,”
Ramathuba said.
In Limpopo, 253 babies were born on Christmas day, 29 of them to teenagers.
“This is quite a shocking statistic. To have 29 teenagers deliver babies in a single day is just too much. We are not going anywhere as a country if things continue to go this way. we can’t have children having children. 14-year-olds should be playing with their siblings and not making their parents grandparents,” Ramathuba said.
However, she said the 29 births by teenagers was a decrease from the 41 that the province recorded on Christmas Day last year.