THE Gauteng Department of Health on Thursday said it was concerned by the number of babies abandoned after birth in public hospitals.
This year alone, 118 babies have been abandoned in various public hospitals.
The department said hospitals with high rate of child abandonment so far are Carletonville (19), Leratong (19), Far East Rand (13), Tembisa (10) and Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital (10).
According to the department, reasons cited for abandoning babies included teenage mothers being fearful of their parents, unwanted and unplanned pregnancies, lack of immediate basic supplies of clothes and toiletries for the mother and new born upon discharge, lack of emotional, financial and social support from the father, and undocumented migrant mothers.
(COMPILED BY INSIDE POLITICS STAFF)
