Cape Town – The number of New Year babies born at public health facilities in the Western Cape has more than doubled since this morning.
Earlier, the Western Cape Health Department said 22 babies had been born, but the figure has now been revised to 58.
The first baby, weighing 3.3kg, was born to Zahraah Abrahams in Mowbray at exactly midnight.
Thirteen minutes later, the second baby in the Western Cape was conceived at the Paarl hospital – another boy weighing 3.6kg. A total of seven babies have been born so far at the Paarl hospital today.
The newborns in the province comprise 32 boys and 26 girls.
Nthuthulezo Mlungwana gave birth to a baby daughter, Mlungwana, at the Khayelitsha District Hospital on New Year's Day and was visited by Western Cape Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo.
Meanhwile, KwaZulu-Natal has welcomed 66 New Year's Day babies.
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health said 34 boys and 32 girls were born in hospitals around the province.
The first baby was born at the Ladysmith Hospital, with the youngest mother to give birth aged 14 at the Estcourt Hospital. The father of the baby, according to the department, is 20 years old.
The North West and Free State have together welcomed 42 babies thus far.