the return of baby hatches
it’s an unfortunate fact of life that all over the world newborn babies are abandoned on a daily basis, in bins, on doorsteps, in bushes. just searching for ‘abandoned baby’ on the google news search brought up these results and that’s just a selection of the cases that are actually reported.
centuries ago a device called a foundling wheel could be spotted in many countries around the world, mainly outside churches and hospitals, the objective being a safe haven for these unwanted newborns coupled with anonymity for the parent.
above: a very early foundling wheel in florence.
these early designs basically consisted of a cylinder with a revolving door planted in the exterior wall of the building – the baby could be placed in this cylinder and then a bell rung to alert someone inside of the new delivery. they saved a lot of lives but over the years faced a lot of opposition from certain sectors of society due to religious views, moral argument and legal problems.
above: the original foundling wheel in italy, built 1198
in recent years some modern versions of the foundling wheel, known as baby hatches, have been slowly introduced in some countries. i’d never even heard of these before, possibly due to the uk idiotically banning the use of these life-saving devices due to the illegality of the act of abandonment itself.
above: a hi-tech baby hatch in bergamo, italy (photo: gianluca colla)
the modern hatches are either insulated or heated and contain an alarm which is triggered by sensors when movement inside the device is detected, alerting the necessary people whilst still giving the parent enough time to leave the scene. in germany there are over 90 modern baby hatches, an address list of which can be seen here on the hatch manufacturer’s website. other countries now allowing baby hatches include italy, pakistan, austria and japan.
above: the first and only ’stork’s cradle’ in japan.
interestingly, the one and only baby hatch in japan, the ’stork’s cradle’, was opened in 2006. earlier this year the news was dominated by the story of a father/idiot who very responsibly put his 3 year old son into the hatch.
below is a clip, in japanese, about the hatch.
the ‘cradle for life’ below is situated outside a single mothers’ shelter in padua, italy. as soon as the door shuts the box warms up and a 2 minute timer starts, after which the ambulance service is notified along with social workers upstairs.
the cradle cost 6′300 euros.
Filed under: architecture, controversial, design, history, interessant, law, photo, politics, technology, wow | 21 Comments
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That’s interesting and very clever. It’s sad when babies get abandoned, but at least they have a nice safe place to go.
These are common in Phoenix, Arizona. When I was in labor in the hospital my husband and I repeatedly heard a code “Safe Haven” being called over the intercom. Our nurse finally explained to us it was notifying the staff of a baby in the baby hatch. In the space of a couple of hours it went off three or four times. While it made me sad that some poor mother was in a situation that she wasn’t able to raise her baby herself – it did make me realize the importance and necesity of baby hatches.
Very interesting, I think the “logic” in banning them is the typical ring wing thinking. The reality of our world is that there are unwanted babies and troubled people who cannot care for them. There is nothing wrong with offering a safe and responsible solution.
Great article!
It’s a sad– but necessary– precaution any society should take for its newest citizens…
If only we could easily and quickly cut through all the red tape and be allowed to adopt these abandoned infants. I think the baby hatches are a humane response to a desperate situation. So what if abandoning your baby is illegal? In the USA we make all kinds of provisions for people to perform their illegal acts (just think of illegal immigrants and sodomists who are ignored). We are talking about human life and the highest priority in God’s eyes is to preserve and care for people. To those who think baby hatches should be abolished – would they rather babies be aborted than abandoned and adopted? That speaks volumes for the root of their mindset.
Dear Mr Dog,
The ‘this is a gem of an article’ Society hereby gives you the Order of the Gem.
david – thanks, i can now retire from the world of blogging. i always imagined the order of the gem to be unattainable for us normal people.
this calls for champagne. or maybe just cava.
I didn’t realize how historic this idea was! Thank you for the info…
I wish that more facilities were able to do this and more people knew about them.
Human solution?
I think it’s an undemanding solution to a human problem; it’s like fixing a gutter with a bucket instead of climbing to the roof to repair the hole.
I mean sure, it’s a well-dressed gadget, but shouldn’t we be worried about “not having” babies if we don’t want them?
It’s really interesting to observe these devices, and study their historic implications, but we shouldn’t think this as a solution for the contemporary era.
you can tell the whole world not to have babies that aren’t wanted until you’re blue in the face – it’s never going to stop it happening. the ‘bucket’ you speak of saves babies’ lives and the ‘hole in the roof’ isn’t repairable.
Very nice written article.
Sad that they exist. Excellent that someone is receiving these infants. My wife is due to deliver in the next 2 weeks. I can’t imagine anyone giving away their own child.
Thanks for this article, I didn’t know these exsisted.
I am sure people who really do not want their babies would abandon them anyway, so how does this not solve at least one aspect of the problem??
If societal mores didn’t force women to want to remain anonymous when they relinquish a child, these wouldn’t be neccesssary. Bearing a child when you aren’t prepared to be a parent is hard enough, but there are plenty of people who would adopt an infant. Add shame to that (which is still prevalent in most of the world), and you have a situation where women are terrified to find a home for their babies, because their families might find out. It’s too sad that these secret procedures are needed, but I’m glad they are available.
Thanks for a lovely piece, however the idea of hatches, or indeed Safe Haven, only works for mothers who are able to decide they really cannot take care of their infant.
What of the young scared mothers who have been in denial about their pregnancy, concealing it for nine months, only to deliver alone in their parent’s bathroom? I don’t think their first thought will be to bundle their newborn up and take two buses across town to Safe Haven or leave their child in a hatch. They are more likely to panic and feel the need to clean up, hide the mess and dispose of the ‘evidence’.
We need to provide decent sex education from a younger age, treat teens like adults, assume they are going to have sex and give them the tools to make good decisions about contraception. Adoption is a way better option than dumping, but a mother needs help and guidance, which means someone has to know she’s pregnant.
An abandoned baby has no social or medical history and will spend its life wondering where it came from, plus who delivers the baby into the hatch or Safe Haven? Is it the mother, or is it the grandmother who feels her daughter has brought shame on the family by having a baby out of marriage? Maybe it’s the father of the child who has taken the baby from its mother or the grandfather? We never know.
Well said, Mum.
This was a very interesting historical post. In California we have a “Safely Surrendered Baby Law” that went into effect 1/1/2001. I see the postings in Fire Departments, Police Stations, Libraries even.
Here’s a link to the California one. http://www.sfgov.org/site/sffd_page.asp?id=60777.
Your post was well done and very interesting. As for the discussion on whether or not the human race has issues… well, I don’t think that was the purpose for your post.
Love and Light, and GREAT pics too.
What a crazy/interesting story. Thanks.
I don’t know how I feel about the last one. A closed box that warms up? What if the ambulance service doesn’t get called for some reason, I just really hope there are some precautions in place..