Dhel Malith CholMarch 24, 2026
A Facebook post published on 10 March 2026 by a page called Legit.SS claims that a girl gave birth to a baby boy at Juba Teaching Hospital, causing fear among people at the facility, but this is false.
“Fear arose in Juba Teaching Hospital as a girl gave birth to a baby boy. A lot of clients reportedly fled the hospital,” the caption reads.
At the time of this publication, the post had 470 likes, 164 comments and 147 shares, attracting considerable engagement from social media users.
Debunking the Claim:
A Google Reverse Image search of the photo used in the post shows that the image has circulated online before and is linked to rare medical cases reported outside South Sudan.
One of the search results leads to an article published by Visor Notícias, which reported a rare medical case of a baby born with a tail measuring about 12 centimeters at the Albert Sabin Children’s Hospital in Fortaleza, Brazil.
According to the report, the baby was born prematurely at 35 weeks, and the unusual tail was linked to a rare developmental condition where the embryonic tail present during early fetal development is not fully reabsorbed.
Medical experts explain that all human embryos develop a small tail between the fourth and eighth week of pregnancy, which is normally absorbed by the body during development. In rare cases, however, the structure continues to grow, resulting in what is medically known as a human vestigial tail.
Other reports containing similar images and descriptions were also found on international news sites such as ClicRDC and Canal121, which reported comparable cases of babies born with tails measuring around 13 centimeters in Colombia. These reports explain that such tails are typically not connected to the spine or nervous system and can be removed through simple surgical procedures.
None of the sources found through the reverse image search mention South Sudan, Juba Teaching Hospital, or Yirol County in connection with the image.
Our Verdict:
The claim that a girl gave birth to a baby at Juba Teaching Hospital causing panic is false.
The image used in the Facebook post has circulated online in earlier reports about rare medical cases outside South Sudan , including cases reported in Brazil and Colombia since 2019.
This article is published by The ClarityDesk through the Young Journalists Media Integrity Fellowship, with the support of the Election Civic Tech Fund of AfricTivistes, within the AHEAD Africa and Digitalise Youth projects, led by the Digital Democracy Initiative.
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About The ClarityDesk
The ClarityDesk is a media integrity project based in South Sudan dedicated to promoting truth, transparency, and accountability. Working at the intersection of fact-checking, solutions and data journalism, we verify claims, debunk misinformation, and equip the public with tools to critically evaluate information. Our work is guided by accuracy, independence, and the public interest.
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