MEC Dhlomo to welcome Christmas babies at Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital

The media is invited as the MEC for Health in KwaZulu-Natal Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo welcomes Christmas babies. 

The event will be held at Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital’s maternity ward on 25 December 2011 at 08h00 and journalists are invited for photo and interview opportunities.

The MEC will release a statement on the number of babies delivered in public health facilities in the province. It is also expected that the MEC will make a public call for ensuring safer pregnancies and child-births in the Province.

The MEC says; “Each year, hundreds of women and children die from preventable causes. These are not mere statistics. They are people with names and faces. Their suffering is unacceptable in the 21st century.”

MEC Dhlomo believes that the starting point in addressing this problem is the household; which comprises the pregnant woman and her family. He says that many interventions for maternal, new-born and woman’s health - such as birth planning, birth spacing, antenatal and postnatal care and attendance, immediate breastfeeding, clean and safe delivery, hygiene, and drying and wrapping the baby- can be adapted as regular practices in every household, even under very poor circumstances.

The MEC will also hand-over gifts to the families and thank the healthcare workers who have been working over the busy festive season.