The country’s public health facilities safely delivered 1708 healthy babies on Christmas Day this year as compared to 1414 delivered in 2022, says the Department of Health.

This number consists of 840 baby boys and 868 baby girls.

‘The Department of Health congratulates the health workers, especially the midwives, for the 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,’ said the department in a statement.

The department is currently scaling up human milk banking for the survival and healthy growth of babies born to mothers who are unable to breastfeed to ensure no baby is deprived of nutritious breastmilk.

The number of newborns per province is as follows:

Eastern Cape – 221

North West – 121

KwaZulu-Natal – 255

Limpopo – 209

Mpumalanga – 161

Free State – 76

Western Cape – 231

Northern Cape – 47

Gauteng – 387
Source: South African Government News Agency