Japanese hospital tests first "baby hatch"

[BuffyMars]

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's first "baby hatch", where mothers can drop off babies they can't care for, completed a test-run on Tuesday with a doll, clearing the way for the controversial facility to start operating in about a week.

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Jikei Hospital in the southwestern city of Kumamoto, which has links with the Catholic church, has built an incubator-like hatch with access from the outside of the building to allow babies to be dropped off safely and anonymously.

Hospital staff hope the hatch, nicknamed the "cradle of storks", will protect the lives of abandoned babies. The system is already in use in Germany and a similar facility opened in Italy recently.

But critics say the scheme may encourage people to leave their babies, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been quoted as saying he opposes the idea of creating a system where parents can abandon a child anonymously.

In the test run, hospital staff were notified by an alarm, a blinking light and a video image when a baby doll was placed inside the hatch. Nurses then went to the hatch to retrieve the baby.

Abortion is widely accepted in Japan, but there are cases of infants being abandoned.

Yukiko Tajiri, head of the nursing section, said the hospital aimed to have the facility in operation around next Thursday at the earliest.

"We will encourage people to the very end to consult so that (abandoning a baby) doesn't happen," Tajiri said on the controversy and concern of cabinet ministers that the hatch will encourage people to abandon their babies.

Any babies left in the hatch will be handed over to children's homes if their parents do not come forward.

[carter08]

If someone's going to abandon a baby, I'd rather it be put in the"baby hatch" than in a dumpster

[ASUFrisbeeStud]

Originally posted by carter08
If someone's going to abandon a baby, I'd rather it be put in the"baby hatch" than in a dumpster

Yeah but does that give someone more reason to do it? I mean if you don't have the option available to dump your baby somewhere than maybe you'd man up and keep it. Someone who is crazy enough to dump one in a dumpster isn't going take the time to drop it off at a hospital.

[Ranger Mom]

Originally posted by ASUFrisbeeStud
Yeah but does that give someone more reason to do it? I mean if you don't have the option available to dump your baby somewhere than maybe you'd man up and keep it. Someone who is crazy enough to dump one in a dumpster isn't going take the time to drop it off at a hospital.

We have had several babies dropped off at ours. What's it hurt to have them, just on the chance that it might save one baby??

[ASUFrisbeeStud]

Originally posted by Ranger Mom
We have had several babies dropped off at ours. What's it hurt to have them, just on the chance that it might save one baby??

You're right, if it saves one baby it's definitly worth it. It's just frustrating that people would not take responsibility for their actions.

[Ranger Mom]

Originally posted by ASUFrisbeeStud
You're right, if it saves one baby it's definitly worth it. It's just frustrating that people would not take responsibility for their actions.

Yeah...it is. But I would rather them have it and drop it off at a safe place than 1) a dumpster, or 2) abort it!!

[vet93]

It saddens me that there appears to be a need:dispntd:

[pirate4state]

Originally posted by vet93
It saddens me that there appears to be a need:dispntd: No kidding.

[BuffyMars]

Originally posted by vet93
It saddens me that there appears to be a need:dispntd:

My thoughts exactly.

I was adopted, and when I think of all the possible ways that I "could" have ended up....I thank God everyday.

[Ranger Mom]

Originally posted by vet93
It saddens me that there appears to be a need:dispntd:

It is sad, but every day in this country women/girls have babies that they cannot or will not take care of.

If they sell them or give them away, they are in trouble. If they just abandon them, they are in trouble.

But....if they take them to one of these safe places, where there are no questions asked.......maybe the kid will have a fighting chance!!

[vet93]

I agree RM...the thought of an abandoned baby just makes me sad when I think of what it was like to hold my own...that is why I think that it is so awesome when people are willing to adopt and give that same kind of love to these kids who could not get it from their natural parents.



Originally posted by Ranger Mom
It is sad, but every day in this country women/girls have babies that they cannot or will not take care of.

If they sell them or give them away, they are in trouble. If they just abandon them, they are in trouble.

But....if they take them to one of these safe places, where there are no questions asked.......maybe the kid will have a fighting chance!!