Baby Hatch

Baby hatch, OrphanCARE, Malaysia

There may be an unidentified epidermic of infanticide in the country. Occasional cases come to light when the victims (dead newborn/babies) are discovered in the trash, drain, toilet, bags and other places and are reported in the press. The mothers are often unmarried adolescents who became pregnant and did not know what to do with their unwanted pregnancies. The Star newspaper (Friday 6 July 2012) reports that there is "a spike in the number of baby-dumping incidences since 2010. After dropping from 102 cases in 2008 to 79 in 2009, the figures increased to 91 and 98 in 2010 and 2011 respectively."  The social stigma and taboo against unmarried mothers and teenage pregnancy are still very strong in this country.

The baby hatch is a place where these mothers can leave their babies without resorting to killing them. The key to the baby hatch is anonymity. Parents can leave their unwanted babies in the hatch without any questions. The baby hatch is usually a hatch where the parents can place the baby, without been seen. Once the baby is in the hatch, the caretaker of the hatch will take care of the baby until arrangements are made to hand the baby over to staff of the children section of the Social Welfare department.

More about baby hatch here


This does not solve the issue of unwanted pregnancies out of wedlock or teenage pregnancies. That need to be addressed in another way. What it does is to offer an alternative way out for mothers of these unwanted babies instead of committing murder.

Baby hatch, Germany

Baby hatch, Czech Republic