Durban - ‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring… except for expecting mothers rushing to hospital as the imminent birth of their child was upon them.
Sanelisiwe Gumede was with her family on Christmas Eve when her contractions started.
“I prayed for a girl and a natural birth,” said Gumede on Thursday, with one-day-old Sinovuyo in her arms at Parklands Hospital.
Sinovuyo was born, naturally, at 6.23am on December 25, making her the first Christmas baby in the hospital this year, an achievement rewarded with a large gift basket from the hospital management.
Gumede and her husband, Sandile, waited 11 years before deciding to have their second child, and the timing of the birth for the festive season was planned.
A few metres down the tinsel-decorated passage of the maternity ward lay first-time mom Kimmisha Gounden, holding her baby girl Keriana.
“It is an overwhelming experience,” said Gounden of the birth of her first child.
Gounden was at church with her husband, Ugen, on Christmas Day when she felt her baby was on the way. A short trip to the hospital was all it took for her water to break, signalling that a second Christmas baby was to arrive shortly.
Ugen was already doting on his daughter as he proudly announced she weighed 2.76kg and measured 50cm when she was born.
“And she is going to be a Liverpool supporter,” he said.
On Christmas Day, the MEC for health, Sibongiseni Dhlomo, took time to visit newborn babies at the King Dinuzulu Hospital, where he urged mothers to have regular check-ups when pregnant.
“Each year, hundreds of women and children die from preventable incidences due to, among other things, non-attendance of antenatal clinics,” said Dhlomo.
He said expecting mothers should attend antenatal clinics immediately after finding out that they were pregnant, and continue attending them until they gave birth. - Kevin Lancaster, The Mercury
* And in Johannesburg, there were at least 130 Christmas Day babies born in Gauteng, while Limpopo had a bumper crop of 239.
In Gauteng, the first Christmas baby arrived at midnight at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital. By the end of the day, 29 babies (15 girls and 14 boys) had been born at Bara, the most at any Gauteng hospital.
The first Limpopo baby was also born at midnight, in Matlala Hospital in Sekhukhune. And Limpopo had Christmas twins, a boy and a girl born to Annah Maophanga at Dilokong Hospital in Sekhukhune.
Gauteng Health MEC Hope Papo visited Christmas babies born at Dr George Mukhari Hospital in Ga-Rankuwa, north of Pretoria.
“During this time of giving, we would like to share with the mothers in their joy as they bring new lives into this world,” he said.
Papo presented the mothers with disposable nappies, baby blankets, clothes and bassinets.
Other Gauteng hospitals with Christmas babies were:
* Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital delivered 11 babies (nine girls and two boys), the first one 34 minutes after midnight.
* Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital delivered four babies (a girl and three boys), the first at 1.04am.
* Mamelodi Hospital delivered 13 babies (four girls and nine boys), the first at five minutes past midnight.
* Tshwane District Hospital delivered four babies (a girl and three boys), the first baby at 7.45am.
* Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital delivered 13 babies (seven girls and six boys), the first at 45 minutes past midnight.
* Bertha Gxowa Hospital delivered five babies (four girls and a boy), the first five minutes before 1am.
* South Rand Hospital delivered two babies (a girl and a boy), the first at midnight.
* Kalafong Hospital delivered 10 babies (five girls and five boys), the first at 10 minutes past midnight.
* Kopanong Hospital delivered four babies (two girls and two boys), the first at 8.35am.
* Sebokeng Hospital delivered 10 babies (a girl and nine boys), the first at 10 minutes past midnight.
* Tembisa Hospital delivered 25 babies, the first at six minutes past midnight.- Staff Reporter and Sapa, The Star