BLOEMFONTIEN – Prematurely born identical twin brothers King and Kingston Pebane will be celebrated fondly on World Prematurity Day on Monday 17 November. Now two years old, the twins are children of a Bloemfontein couple, Karabelo and Tshegofatso Pebane.
An official foundation named after the two-year-olds, the King and Kingston Miracle Foundation, will be launched on the day in question at Bloemfontein’s Life Rosepark Hospital.
World Prematurity Day aims at raising worldwide awareness of preterm birth and the concerns of preterm babies and their families.
According to the Department of Health in South Africa, an average of 15% or one in seven babies of all births are born prematurely annually.
The boys were born prematurely on 13 October 2023 to Karabelo and Tshegofatso Pebane, with their initial due date being 19 January 2024. The fact that King and Kingston survived their birth and pulled through has been considered a miracle.
Due to their prematurity − especially their birth weights − the twins were attached to a ventilator for 17 days at Life Rosepark. At birth, King weighed 490g and Kingston 430g.
When discharged on 19 January 2024 from the hospital, King’s weight was 2 100 g (2,1 kg) and Kingston weighed 1 805 g (1,8 kg).
They are reportedly the smallest premature babies (under 500 g) to have been cared for at Rosepark. They spent 26 weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit.
To the delighted Pebane couple, the recovery of their twins remains and amazing story. They were discharged without any medical complications earning them the title of “Miracle Twins”. Father Karabelo had said he was fasting for 12 hours for their twins to pull through while his spouse Tshegofatso stayed at the hospital.
Premature babies are born before their organs are fully developed, making them vulnerable and requiring specialised care, often in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). According to the Department of Health in South Africa, an average of 15% or one in seven babies of all births are born prematurely annually. About 84 000 preterm infants are born in South Africa each year and 10% of these premature infants are at an increased risk of death and various other complications including respiratory, neurological and eye morbidities compared to full-term infants.
South Africa ranks 24th out of 184 countries with a high number of newborn deaths around the world due to complications from preterm birth. According to the department, prematurity is a leading cause of neonatal death, with a significant portion of preterm infants not surviving, and progress in reducing the rate of preterm births has stagnated over the past decade.
