PRISCILLA MWILA, NANCY SIAME, Lusaka
THE University Teaching Hospital (UTH), which recently had a case of a new baby being stolen and sold to a woman whose own child died after birth, recorded cases of 10 babies being abandoned by their mothers within the first quarter of this year.
For some unexplained reasons, the majority of the 10 babies were dumped in Linda township and later taken to UTH by Zambia Police. However, UTH public relations manager Natalie Mashikolo said two of the 10 babies were dumped at UTH D block. “This matter is being handled by relevant authorities who are trying to establish why most of the babies were picked in Linda township,” Ms Mashikolo said. “But preliminary investigations indicate that most of these babies were dumped in Linda townships by their teenage mothers.” Ms Mashikolo said when the babies are taken to UTH, those in good health are handed over to the Social Welfare Department while those who need medical attention are attended to. Once the ill babies are treated, they are also given to the Social Welfare Department, which admits them to various orphanages. While actual reasons why Linda could be recording this high number of dumped babies are yet to be established, Ms Mashikolo believes the teenage mothers are getting unwanted pregnancies because of the high number of shebeens, bars and taverns in the township.
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