Selangor has most cases of abandoned babies
ALMOST 700 babies were abandoned over a six-year period, with Selangor having the highest number of cases.
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim said that 697 cases of abandoned babies were recorded between 2010 and December last year.
“Selangor recorded the highest number with 157 cases, followed by 84 cases each in Sabah and Johor, 65 in Kuala Lumpur and 49 cases in Sarawak,” she said when replying to a question raised by Teo Nie Ching (DAP-Kulai) in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
She said there was an increase in cases of abandoned babies, with 115 recorded last year compared with 91 in 2010.
Rohani said eight hospitals and an NGO had set up baby hatches to allow desperate mothers who were unable to care for their newborns to leave their babies there.
She added that babies left at the baby hatches were cared for by OrphanCARE, an NGO set up to help find suitable homes for the babies.
“Based on OrphanCARE records, from 2010 and as of last year, a total of 35 babies were left at the baby hatches.
“Unfortunately, most babies continue to be abandoned everywhere and not left at the hatches,” she said.
Rohani said that 29 babies were left at the baby hatch in Selangor, two each in Kuala Lumpur and Negri Sembilan and one each in Perak and Pahang.
OrphanCARE was set up in 2008, under the patronage of Sultanah Pahang Sultanah Hajjah Kalsom. It was the first to start a baby hatch to discourage women from abandoning their babies by providing the assurance that the babies would be placed in good homes.
On the nationality and citizenship of abandoned babies, Rohani said that her ministry works closely with the National Registration Department to prepare the necessary documentation, such as birth certificates and citizenship, upon adoption.