Three babies were recently dumped at the Louis Trichardt Memorial Hospital, giving credence to the claim that young girls are getting pregnant to receive a child grant.

According to the liaison officer at the hospital, Mr ZN Kutama, it seems that dumping babies in the area is becoming a trendy fashion. He says if the trend continues, nurses at the hospital will become babysitters in future

On September 27, a four-month-old baby boy was brought to the hospital by a hawker and nurses at the hospital said his name is Gift. The following month, in September, another baby boy, who is believed to be a year old, was brought to the hospital by local social workers after he was found dumped in town. At the hospital, they now call him Blessing.

According to nurses who spoke to Mirror anonymously, his mother is known as a prostitute in town. As if that were not enough for the hospital, Kutama said that a third baby, a girl, was brought to the hospital by the local social workers. Her hospital name is Mpho.

“It is advisable for people to use contraceptives to avoid unwanted pregnancies, especially if they feel that they cannot raise kids as responsible parents. As of now, no single case has been reported to the local police station by the hospital, but we are still searching for the mothers to come forward,” he said.

Kutama said that, if people have problems, people must know that, at his hospital, there are well-trained social workers and health professionals who can assist them. He claimed that, as part of beefing up services at the hospital, the hospital recently appointed a social worker, a clinical psychologist and an optometrist.