Baby Savers SA is awaiting feedback from parliament on its proposal for a safe alternative to babies being dumped in fields, bins and other life-threatening places.
Baby Savers SA co-founder and director of Door of Hope Nadene Grabham told TimesLIVE Premium safe relinquishment needed to be legalised.
“We need safe haven laws implemented in SA. The first modern-day baby saver in the world started in SA and yet we are one of the few countries who don’t recognise the need for baby savers and safe haven laws.”
In January Baby Savers SA presented a proposal to parliament about introducing the option of safe relinquishment.
“It is important for women to recognise that legal advice has been sought on the plight of abandoned infants and the ‘criminalisation’ of their mothers abandoning them. If there is a legal remedy we are doing what we can to address it. We are seeking advice and legal redress,” said Grabham.
Baby Savers SA is a national coalition of organisations that operates throughout SA.
The baby saver is easy to access and use — simply open the door, place the baby into the saver and close the door, which then automatically locks. The trigger-plate sends an alarm which is responded to and the baby is taken by ambulance to the local hospital where it will be placed into the foster care or adoption system, as with any other abandoned baby.
There are 40 baby savers in SA and more than 451 babies have been safely relinquished.
Baby abandonment was in the spotlight again last week when a person picking mangoes found a three-month-old girl on a patch of land between a soccer pitch and a church in Verulam. A private security company was alerted and the baby was later handed to social workers.
The child’s mother, who left a note asking not to be judged for abandoning her baby, later handed herself over to police.
Private research done in 2010 and 2016 showed that about 3,500 babies survive abandonment annually in SA and for every baby found alive, two are found dead.
— Baby Savers SA co-founder and director of Door of Hope Nadene Grabham
Nomalanga Msomi, 23, appeared in court on Thursday on child abandonment charges and was granted bail of R500, which was paid by her mother.
Grabham said Door of Hope in Johannesburg received 199 babies in the last three years.
“Forty-six babies were abandoned and brought to us by the police and via hospitals, some were abandoned in hospital and some found unsafely abandoned and then taken to hospital. In the last three years 29 babies were safely handed over to our Door of Hope baby saver,” she said.
Grabham said baby abandonment was a pandemic and Baby Savers SA had the solution.
“It just needs to be acknowledged and implemented. More baby savers and crisis pregnancy centres are needed across the country, not only in urban areas but in rural areas as well.”
She said there were no verified statistics on baby abandonment in SA.
“Varying factors make it difficult to get stats. Not all babies that are found are reported, their little bodies are just disposed of. Those who are reported, are categorised under homicide or concealment of birth. There is no category for child abandonment.”
“Private research done in 2010 and 2016 by child protection activist, Dee Blackie, showed that about 3,500 babies survive abandonment annually in SA and for every baby found alive, two are found dead,” said Grabham.
Isaiah 54 Children’s Sanctuary director Youandi Gilain said 12 babies were brought to the children’s home on the Bluff in Durban in August.
“They came in from various hospitals. After lockdown, we noticed that babies that are being abandoned are well-dressed and taken care of. You can see that they are loved. Mothers are desperate and just don’t have the support to take care of their babies.”
Gilain said her organisation will be in court to support Msomi when she appears again in November.
KwaZulu-Natal social development departmental spokesperson Mhlaba Memela said “dumping” a child remained a crime.
“A mother, after giving birth, can communicate with a nurse to explain she doesn’t want the child and the department can come to raise the child. A mother can also leave a child with social workers explaining her predicament, and social workers will gladly take that child to a place of safety where she or he can be raised. The mother can also visit the child until her life is normalised.”
“The provision of child support grants and foster care grants was introduced to help mothers to take care of their children. There is no justification that can lead a parent to dump a child.”
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