It was a double joy for hundreds of families in Malawi as they welcomed about 1 487 new babies born on Christmas Day.
The births recorded in the country’s 28 district hospitals is 1.7 percent higher than 1 462 babies born on the day last year.
Ministry of Health data made available to The Nation show that 764 were girls while 723 were boys, representing about 51.4 percent and 48.4 percent, respectively.
Lilongwe recorded the highest at 244 (121 females) followed by Blantyre at 109 and Mangochi, which registered the highest number last year at 89, came third with 97 Christmas babies.
Kasungu recorded 76, Dowa 71, Mulanje 65 and Zomba 63 babies.
Likoma was the least with only one baby.
In an interview yesterday, Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital’s Chatinkha Maternity Wing chief nursing officer Gertrude Ngwalo said out of 34 deliveries made on the day, 32 were live births.
“There were two male fresh stillbirths [born already dead] and on a sad note, we also recorded one neonatal death [death before reaching 28 days old],” she said.
Christians and some non-Christians observe Christmas Day on December 25 to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
In the 2018 Malawi Population and Housing Census, it emerged that the fertility rate had declined to 4.2 children per woman from six in 2008.
Malawi recorded 1 628 Christmas Day babies in 2022 and 1 400 in 2021.
