Nigeria’s First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu has welcomed the First baby of the year 2024 in the Federal Capital Territory at the National Hospital, Abuja in the early hours of Monday, January 1, 2024.
Baby Boluwatife was born at 12.03 a.m. on Monday at the National Hospital.
The first lady also visited other babies just born in the hospital, bearing gifts. Among them was a set of conjoined twins.
Mrs. Tinubu was accompanied by the wife of the Vice President, Nana Shettima, the Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohaneye, the wife of the minister for works, Mrs Umahi and the wife of the Minister of State for Defence, Mrs Matawalle.
During the visit, the First Lady advised expectant mothers to prioritise their health and seek to know their HIV/AIDS status.
She said this will enable them to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the disease and also help them (mothers) stay healthy.
“I urge nursing mothers to take adequate care of their babies, ensure that they are immunised as and when due, practice exclusive breastfeeding and provide them with adequate nutritious and healthy weaning food for their brain development”.
“Expectant mothers should always take antenatal and postnatal care seriously, maintain basic hygiene at home, space their births, register their babies with the National Population Commission, NPC and make efforts to enrol them in school at the appropriate age,” she said.
Mrs Tinubu said her foundation, Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI), is working in collaboration with UNICEF to see that all births in Nigeria are registered to ensure the rights and protection of all children.
She said RHI would lend a helping hand to facilitate the surgery to separate the conjoined twins.
The Chief Medical Director, Mohammed Mahmood, a professor, while expressing appreciation of the hospital for the gesture, seized the opportunity to appeal for more help to sustain the legacy of the hospital.
