By Ifeoma Ikem

Her excellency, wife of Lagos State Governor, Dr Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, welcomed the first babies of year 2020 in four government owned health facilities in the state.

Sanwo-Olu presented gifts items to the babies during her visits to Ijede General Hospital, Agbowa General Hospital, Ketu-Ejirin General Hospital and Lagos Island Maternity Hospital.

The first baby of the year, a boy weighing two kilogrammes, was born to the family of Mr and Mrs Agede at 12.01 a.m. at Ijede General Hospital, Ikorodu.

Agede was followed by a girl, born at 12.07 a.m to the family of Mr and Mrs Agbor, at Agbowa General Hospital, weighing 3.1 kg.

The third baby boy, weighing 2.6kg, was born to the Momoh family at 12.09 a.m at Lagos Island Maternity Hospital, while the fourth baby was born to Mr and Mrs Kazeem at 1, 40 a.m weighing 3kg at Ketu-Ejirin.

Sanwo-Olu said the birth of a child was not by chance and required that the mother’s adequate care to ensure that she lived a healthy life whilst pregnant and got skilled care during labour and delivery.

According to the Lagos First Lady, the birth of a child brings good fortune to a society, symbolising the assurance that human heritage and life is preserved to the next generation.

“We are here today not just to celebrate new lives but also to seek opportunities to make a difference in the lives of the people who need our assistance.

“Bearing in mind always that our show of love, kindness and compassion is only an extension of gratitude to our maker for the same grace granted to us,” she said.

According to her, two new Maternal and Child Centres (MCC) at Alimosho and Eti-Osa areas of the state were commissioned to complement the existing ones and strengthen the health sector toward halting the trend of maternal and child mortality in the state.

Sanwo-Olu added that Neonatal Care Units, equipment and resources were also provided at some general hospitals to enhance the quality of maternal and child care services, adding that the state government was poised to doing more this year.

She commended the state Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, and his team, for improvements recorded in the state health sector in the last few months.

Sanwo-Olu emphasised that the commissioner’s commitment toward infrastructure upgrade, provision of relevant equipment and human resource development was exemplary.

She disclosed that for the first time since the inception of 1st Baby of the year celebration 18 years ago, the event was marked for the first time at Ijede, Agbowa and Ketu-Ejirin General Hospitals, respectively.

Sanwo-Olu prayed that the babies would grow to become great and responsible citizens that would advance the course of the society.

She advised pregnant women to ensure healthy lifestyle that would guarantee wellbeing and posterity of the society

Earlier, Abayomi said that celebrating the first baby of the year was one of the state’s way of showing its commitment to the total health of the mother and her child after conception, pregnancy and child delivery.

Abayomi noted that the event was symbolic as the first annual activity of the state government, focusing on health.

“Its significance is demonstrated by the priority visit of the wife of the governor and the presence of important dignitaries, who could have been elsewhere on this great day but chose to spend their first few hours of the New Year in our public hospitals.

“They make it a duty to be here to rejoice with our mothers on the birth of their children and that, in itself, speaks volume.

“As such, events like this give our dignitaries the chance to evaluate where we are, as against the year before and recognise opportunities to create partnerships that can further improve health service outcomes,” he said.

Abayomi restated the state’s commitment to reducing maternal and child mortality through the implementation of mother and child survival interventions.

The Medical Director Ijede General Hospital,Dr(Mrs)Odubiyi Adenike ,in her speech commend the Lagos state government for the quality of health care delivery system enjoyed by populace within the state metropolis.

She expressed appreciation to the health service commission for their support throughout the year that make Ijede hospital the best and also impacted to lives positively.

According to her ,we have keyed into Mr Governor’s “Themes” Agenda because only a healthy populace can achieve the other pillars. Our gratitude to him and his amiable wife for the conducive working environment and all efforts to enshrine quality care in the state.

However,”our main challenges is acute space constraints, the hospital is very small for our catchment area which has exploded over the years. We need both vertical and lateral expansion. We also need ICT centre to ensure smooth take off of e-health in the facility”.she said

Mrs Bukola Agede, 31year old mother of the first baby of the year and mother of three,chatting with our correspondent appreciate the governor ,Lagos State government and entire staff of Ijede hospital for their kind gesture . Also return all the glory to God for save delivery.