Durban - Two Durban mothers received unexpected gifts on Christmas Day when they welcomed their bouncing baby boys into the world earlier than doctors had predicted.
The mothers, Faeeza Bassa, 25, and Afika Radebe, 19, were only expecting their bundles of joy in January, but the boys decided Christmas Day was a fitting time to make their grand entrance.
First-time mother Radebe cradled her newborn son, Lwandiso, tenderly, attended to by her partner, Mfundo Zulu, in her private room at St Augustine’s Hospital. The couple live in Umlazi.
Radebe referred to her newborn as “a blessing from God” and revealed that her due date had been January 11. Lwandiso weighed a healthy 2.8kg and was delivered by Caesarean section.
Radebe said: “My son is the best gift I could ever have received for Christmas. To see him for the first time made me cry tears of happiness.
“I am glad this was the day he decided to enter the world because his birthdays will be filled with festive spirit and laughter,” she said.
Bassa, who gave birth naturally to 2.9kg son Uzair, said she was also surprised but pleased that he was born at Christmas.
The mother, who gave birth at Parklands Hospital, said Uzair met his big brother, Abdulla, two, on Saturday.
The Musgrave mom could not help but smile at the sight of her newborn as he slept soundly in her arms, oblivious to our cameraman snapping a series of images and unaware of how much joy he had brought to his proud parents.
Meanwhile, the MEC for Health in KwaZulu-Natal, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo, visited the RK Khan Hospital and King Edward VIII Hospital on Christmas Day to welcome the newborns at these public health care facilities.
Dhlomo was delighted by the arrivals but said the number of teenage pregnancies in KZN remained of concern.
This follows deliveries where a 14-year-old gave birth at St Appolonaris, a 16-year-old delivered a baby at Mosvold Hospital and two 15-year-olds gave birth at Lower Umfolozi War Memorial and Murchison hospitals.
Sunday Tribune