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Baby Leonardo with her parents Tim Elliott and Emily Driesen Garland. Arriving at 8:33 am, Leonardo was the first baby born at Hilton Life Private Hospital on New Years Day.
More than 100 babies were born on New Year’s Day in KwaZulu-Natal, joining thousands of children born on the special around the world.
Of the 140 babies born on New Year’s Day, 77 were boys and 63 were girls.
Mediclinic Pietermaritzburg welcomed her first New Year’s baby at 12:40 am. Nerissa Govender gave birth to a healthy 3.97 kg baby.
Hilton Life Private Hospital’s first New Years baby arrived at 8.30am. M. Caring parents, Emily Driesen Garland and Tim Elliott, were delighted.
Driesen said that Leonardo is the “happiest baby”.
She said that they were very worried about giving birth and had to change the birth plan at the last minute. Initially it was supposed to take place in Ballito.
Another mother, Slindile Mkhize, 35, gave birth to a group of twins at Nkonjeni hospital, near Ulundi.
Mkhize, has two other children, ages 15 and 12. She is from the Nhlungwane area, KwaSiqobelo, in Ulundi.
She thanked the staff at Nkonjeni Hospital for helping her deliver her special babies for New Year’s Day, whom she called Siyamuthanda and Leth’ukuthula. The twins weighed 2.5 kg and 2.8 kg respectively.
The province’s health MEC, Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu, urged all mothers in the province to exclusively breastfeed their babies for the first six months and to ensure that they immunize their babies at correct intervals according to the table ‘Camino to health ‘.
The MEC congratulated all the families of the babies who were born on the first day of the year, saying they were “special” babies.
“The health and well-being of babies is something we take very seriously at the KZN Health Department. Therefore, we urge all new mothers in the province to ensure that they exclusively give breast milk to their babies, at least for the first six months of their life.
“We know it’s not always possible, but you really should give it a try, because breastfeeding has significant health benefits. It strengthens the immune system of babies and also makes the bond between mother and baby very strong.
“We also urge mothers to follow the vaccination schedule stipulated in the Path to Health table because in this way, babies can develop and strengthen their bodies’ ability to fight most childhood ailments, so that they can maintain themselves healthy and thrive. “