By GETHSEMANE MWIZABI –

THE 10-year-old girl of Ndola’s Kaloko Township has given birth to a baby boy as doctors described the duo as being in good shape.
The girl, who gave birth on Tuesday morning, is recovering well in a secluded room at Ndola Central Hospital (NCH)’s intensive care unit .
NCH head of clinical care and consultant obstetrician-gynaecologist Sebastian Chinkoyo described the condition of the mother and the baby as being in ‘good shape’.
He said three medical staff attended to the girl, who at first was unwilling to be wheeled to the theatre until she was sedated.
He said it was a huge challenge to get her to theatre until an Anaesthetist injected her. Dr Chinkoyo said the girl could not allow blood samples to be extracted from her, for haemoglobin, until she was made to sleep.
He said the caesarian operation lasted less than 40 minutes, describing it as successful due to her age and previously foreseen delivery complications.
“It’s a success for Ndola Central Hospital looking at the age of the girl.  The baby weighed 2.6kg, which is a normal weight,” he said.
He said when the baby was born, she asked for the baby, saying it was a good sign of motherhood.
“There is nothing abnormal about the girl. She was just traumatised by having to have people invading her privacy,” he said.
He said the toddler and its baby would be kept in hospital for three days to allow her to recover.
“She came in on Sunday and we couldn’t wait for her to get into labour naturally.  Her operation was planned due to her age,” Dr Chinkoyo said.
He said, now that she had delivered, she would need lots of support from her family on how to look after her baby.
Three months ago country was shocked to learn of the 10-year-old of Kaloko who was discovered to have been impregnated by an unknown person in the impoverished Kaloko community of Ndola.