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Be careful in December... or face having a ‘September baby’ spring on you‚ urges KZN health MEC

Pills condom and lipstick in denim pocket. - Stock image
Pills condom and lipstick in denim pocket. - Stock image

So you were born in September? Chances are that your parents were very busy during the December holidays.

And now the KwaZulu-Natal health department has pleaded with festive revellers to be safe by using a condom‚ birth control or abstaining from sex entirely to avoid becoming part of the “September baby” phenomenon. In KZN hospitals‚ more babies are born in September than any other month.

MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo said analysis of data between 2013 and 2015 revealed that “most mothers had conceived during the December holidays”.

Dhlomo said contraceptives were available free of charge from clinics.

He also expressed concern that out of the 1-million babies born countrywide each year‚ 8% — or about 80 000 — are delivered by teen mothers who‚ by sheer virtue of their age‚ are often neither physiologically nor psychologically ready to bear children.

He said this often leads to serious health complications which may result in the death of the mother‚ her baby or both.

 “It is no secret that‚ during the school holidays and the festive season‚ many young people may be tempted to experiment with new and dangerous things. This includes substance and alcohol abuse‚ and unprotected sex‚ which may have adverse and long-lasting effects on their lives‚” he said.

Dhlomo said if you are a young person under the age of 18‚ and you are delivering a child weighing 3.8kg for instance‚ chances of delivering safely are slim.

“It actually places the mother’s own life and the baby’s in danger. We are always concerned – not just in December‚ but in any time of the year — when young people fall pregnant at a young age because it is very unsafe… If you have unprotected sex now‚ you will be a mother come September‚” he said.

Dhlomo encouraged that sex be spoken about openly instead of being treated as a taboo subject. – TMG Digital/The Times

 

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