Ambode, Fayemi, Oyetola’s wives welcome first babies of 2019 in Lagos, Ekiti, Osun
The wife of the Lagos State governor, Mrs Bolanle Ambode, yesterday welcomed the first baby of the year in the state, seizing the opportunity to call for pregnant women in the state to always patronize government health facilities for safe delivery and also immunize their children against killer diseases. Mrs Ambode, who said this at […]
Wife of the Governor of Lagos State, Mrs Bolanle Ambode (3rd left); Commissioner for Health, Lagos, Dr. Jide Idris (2nd right); SA. Primary Healthcare, Dr. Olufemi Onanuga (right); Medical Director Lagos lsland Maternity, Dr. Olumuyiwa Eniayewun (3rd right); and parent of the first baby of the year, Mr. & Mrs Wasiu & Basirat Adegbesan (2nd left and left), during the presentation of gifts to the baby born at 12:00am with a weight of 3.7kg, at the Lagos lsland Maternity Hospital yesterday.
The wife of the Lagos State governor, Mrs Bolanle Ambode, yesterday welcomed the first baby of the year in the state, seizing the opportunity to call for pregnant women in the state to always patronize government health facilities for safe delivery and also immunize their children against killer diseases.
Mrs Ambode, who said this at the annual celebration of the First Baby of the Year in the state held separately at the Shomolu General Hospital, Maternal and Child Care Centre (MCC) Gbaja, and Lagos Island Maternity Hospital, said it was important for mothers to give quality attention and priority to the well-being of their children in the overall interest of the society.
The first baby in 2019 in Lagos State, weighing 3.7 kilogrammes, was born at 12am to the family of Mr and Mrs Adegbesan at the Island Maternity.
The wife of the governor said the huge government expenditure on infant and maternal health infrastructure could only be justified by a commensurate use of modern facilities by the women, their babies and the children.
She noted further that government’s efforts in stemming maternal and infant mortality would be slow in materializing if expectant mothers did not go to the centres to use the facilities.
Stressing the need for immunisation, she said, “My passionate appeal to mothers, therefore, is to ensure they complete the full course of immunization for their children to prevent child killers like measles, diarrhea, pneumonia, tuberculosis, tetanus and hepatitis. In addition, parents must avoid the use of contaminated water, malnutrition and poor sanitation, as these also contribute to childhood mortality.”
At the Shomolu General Hospital, the first baby was delivered by the family of Awofeso Adara Ojo by 1.47am, while at Gbaja MCC, the first baby was delivered by the family of Amudalat Ojo by 1.58am.
In Osogbo, the Osun State capital, the wife of the governor, Mrs Kafayat Oyetola, showered gifts on the first baby delivered in the state in the new year and his 20-year-old mother, Mrs Olaide Oladosu.
Oladosu, a student of a polytechnic in the state, was delivered of her first child, a baby boy, at the State Hospital, Asubiaro, Osogbo, at 12.09am.
Other new-born babies in the maternity wards, including those born in the dying minutes of December 31, 2018 and those that came to the world shortly after the birth of the winner of the Baby of the Year award, also received gifts.
Oyetola appealed to all parents in the state to ensure good upbringing of their wards by training them to be patriotic citizens that would project the name of their families, the state and the nation positively across the globe.
Expressing their gratitude to Mrs Oyetola, the parents of the First Baby of the Year said the governor’s wife’s gesture had lifted their spirits.
Also in Ekiti State, the wife of the Ekiti State governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi, advised women in the state to desist from giving birth to their babies at home as such practice “is dangerous and life threatening.”
Erelu Fayemi gave the advice while receiving the first three babies of the year at the Ido and University Teaching Hospitals in Ado Ekiti, the state capital.
A statement yesterday by the Press Officer at the Office of the Wife of the Governor, Bolaji Blessing, stated that the first baby of the year, a boy, was born at the Comprehensive Health Centre, Sharp Corner, Ido-Ekiti, at about 12.04am to the family of Mr and Mrs Tope and Kemi Akilo.
The monarch of Ido-Ekiti, Olojudo, Oba Ilori Faboro, witnessed the handing-over of the baby to Erelu Fayemi.
The family of Adebayo Aderonke had the second baby of the year at the Okeyinmi Health Centre, Ado-Ekiti. The baby, a female, weighed 2.8kg, while the third baby arrived at 12.09am to the family of Temitayo and Kehinde Babalola at the Teaching Hospital, Ado Ekiti. Erelu Fayemi settled all the three hospital bills.