Sad reality of baby dumping

POLICE arrested a 19-year-old unwed mother after she confessed to having delivered a baby girl and abandoning her on the verandah of a neighbour’s house in Batu Pahat last month.

The abandoned baby was found by the neighbours and sent to the Welfare Department.

The unwed mother, a helper at a food stall, was detained under the charge of concealing the birth with the intention of abandoning her baby. If convicted, she could be jailed for seven years and fined.

The young girl in this case had compassion for her baby but was left with no choice as her family and society would not only have punished her but shamed her as well for having a baby out of wedlock. So she placed her newborn daughter on the verandah of her neighbour’s house knowing that she would be found and cared for.

In my opinion, charging this young unwed mother who showed compassion for her baby would send the message that all unwed girls who are caught abandoning their baby would be brought to court and could be sentenced with a jail term or fine, or both.

This would result in many unwed pregnant girls disposing of their babies in untraceable and unlikely places for fear of imprisonment, and then the problem of baby dumping would become worse.

Unlike babies who are abandoned in garbage bins, rubbish dumps or near rivers, leaving them to die a horrendous death, the baby of this girl was placed in an area where she would be found easily, giving her a good chance to survive. Hence, this girl should be given community service instead of a jail sentence.

According to a police report, an average of 80 babies are abandoned a year. This figure only represents the number of babies who are found, and there may be more who are abandoned without a trace.

This figure also does not take into account the number of unmarried and underage girls who have their foetus illegally aborted in private clinics.

Unwanted babies have been dumped in some of the most appalling and sickening places, such as toilet bowls, rubbish dumps, rivers, garbage bins and abandoned buildings.

What makes these unwed mothers dump their own flesh and blood? Society and social norms leave them with no other option as girls who deliver babies out of wedlock often find themselves in a precarious situation. They are unable to reveal their pregnancy for fear of being disowned for bringing shame and dishonour to their families.

Most of them were either deceived or cheated into having sex with their boyfriends and when they find themselves pregnant, they are left to fend on their own. The boyfriend would disappear and the girl would have to manage her pregnancy alone.

As long as society continues to attach a stigma to unwed mothers and babies born out of wedlock, baby dumping will continue to be a social problem in our country.

Premarital sex and teenage pregnancies are inevitable in our society despite strict family, cultural and religious values.

According to the Health Ministry, 18,000 teenage pregnancies occur in the country every year. Of this, 4,500 are out of wedlock. And this figure is based just on the number of girls who sought treatment at government clinics.

Parents should be more open and supportive of daughters who are caught in this predicament.

There is a need to change the mindset in dealing with teenage pregnancy. The biar mati anak, jangan mati adat (let the child die as long as traditions/customs live on) mentality has to change.

The authorities could open more centres for young unwed mothers to leave their babies. In these situations, confidentiality must be assured and these young couples or girls should not be prosecuted when they drop their baby at these centres.

Places of worship, hospitals and clinics, which are easily accessible to everyone, could act as drop-off zones and the babies could then be relocated to the baby hatch or welfare centres.

Everything should be done to ensure that no more baby dies in tragic conditions due to the ignorance of their unwed parents. We are responsible for our children and we have to bear the consequences of their desperate and foolish action.