‘Our infants need a safe haven’

Child care organisations appeal for legalisation to save abandoned babies

WITH widespread reports of abandoned infants dominating headlines recently, experts on the matter insist that an amendment of the law might save the lives of these dumped, unwanted babies.

They believe that following the example of the US and several countries in Europe and Asia, implementing the Safe Haven law in South Africa will save the lives of scores of newborn babies who often die soon after they are usually dumped.

This year alone, some known cases involving dumped babies include two paramedics who saved a baby who was abandoned at a busy intersection in Pretoria in May, a newborn was found wrapped in a plastic bag and dumped next to a railway line in March in Durban, and another in KwaZulu-Natal who died in February after been found in a rubbish bin.

Meanwhile, a petrol station employee last month found a baby wrapped in a shawl near a garden area, outside a convenience centre in Durban, and two police officers found a baby dumped on a Hillbrow pavement in May.

While some of the dumped babies are saved, many are not as fortunate as they are often left in isolated locations where they are unlikely to survive. Even if found, it is often not in time for them to be taken to a place of safety.

In a desperate bid to provide unwanted infants a chance at a future, experts are now arguing for the passing of the Safe Haven law in South Africa.

This legislation, which is effective in about 50 states in the US as well as in Europe and in Pakistan and Malaysia, is the legal act of leaving unharmed infants with statutorily designated private persons so that the child becomes a ward of the state.

This would mean that while abandoning a baby is illegal, the Safe Haven law decriminalises the act, if the baby is passed into safe hands – typically only in the first couple of days of his or her life.

This would ultimately save the life of the unwanted baby as research has revealed they are often abandoned in the first few days or weeks of their lives, often with their umbilical cords still attached.

Implementing the law requires the construction of a “baby box”, designated for newborn, abandoned babies at hospitals, clinics, police stations and baby homes.

In order to increase the survival rate of dumped newborns, these boxes are often fitted with temperature regulators and sensors.

This allows an alarm to go off when a baby is placed inside, alerting the emergency services and allowing the child to be retrieved in less than five minutes.

This initiative might have fully been implemented in recent decades but the concept dates back to medieval times, when it was known as foundling wheels – cylindrical barrels on the side of hospitals, churches or orphanages.

Child protection activist and change management consultant, Dee Blackie, said this week that there is a desperate need to decriminalise anonymous abandonment.

“In many countries around the world, women can place their child into care anonymously at police stations, fire stations and hospitals, it’s referred to as a safe haven law.”

These sentiments were echoed by Door of Hope operations director Nadene Grabham, who said Safe Haven laws is needed in a country like South Africa where baby abandonment is prevalent.

She added that more awareness should be raised around baby boxes in South Africa, as well as crisis pregnancy centres around the country in order to address the issue of baby dumping.

Several experts and those who work with abandoned babies locally believe poverty and a lack of family support are catalysts for the dumping of newborns and infants.

“Mothers are making desperate decisions in this difficult economic time,” Blackie said.

“All of the mothers I spoke to who had abandoned their babies did so because they themselves had been abandoned by their partner, by their parents and by the state, through a lack of social support at this difficult time.”

This is where she believed the Safe Haven law will help both the mother and child.

“The decision to abandon rather than placing their child formally into care is related to the fact that we have made anonymous abandonment illegal in South Africa.”

Blackie added that apart from legal repercussions of abandoning a baby, she believes that some women also fear cultural consequences.“Some women also feared that if they formally placed their child up for adoption and signing their rights to their child away, they may be punished by their god or ancestors and never be given the gift of another child.”

Meanwhile, Johannesburg Child Welfare Assistant Director Carol Bews said the influx of illegal immigrants also plays a role in child abandonment.

“There have been cases of mothers of foreign nationality who would abandon their children for fear of deportation if they approached authorities for assistance with their children.”

Grabham added that rape, incest, prostitution, teenage pregnancies as well as substance abuse plays a significant role in a mother’s decision to abandon their child, but also said that an illegal immigrant status is a significant deciding factor as they would not be granted child care grants for their babies even though they are born in the country.

While many mothers resort to abandoning their children, the passing of a Safe Haven law might see their babies leading a full life as those who find these infants could place them in the care of a loving family.

This is what the Johannesburg Child Welfare, the largest and oldest non-governmental child protection organisation in South Africa, strives to achieve.

Bews said that when a child is referred to them, an investigation into the circumstances of the baby is conducted to try to trace and find the parents and/or families.

“For children where the family cannot be successfully traced, we prepare the child for permanent placement with adoptive parents. This is to ensure that the child has a family they can belong to and where they will have permanency.”

Organisations which serves abandoned and orphaned babies such as Baby Haven also offer similar services. they urged women to make use of these services.

“Do not take away the right of life for your unwanted baby,” said Grabham.

| DOOR OF HOPE THE Safe Haven law, adopted in many countries, would assist with the rising number of dumped babies in SA.