On Sunday, Dutch police in the southern city of Breda found a dead baby in its mother's house. The 19-year-old woman, who had concealed her pregnancy, is still in custody. It is not clear how the baby died. Could a ‘baby hatch’* have prevented the tragedy?
It happens at least once a year: a woman panics because she has just had a baby. Sometimes, the baby is abandoned. Some people in the Netherlands are arguing for the introduction of ‘baby hatches’, which would allow a mother to abandon her unwanted baby at a hospital or other institution anonymously.
One foundling a year
It is a crime to abandon a baby in the Netherlands. Under Dutch law, every baby has a fundamental right to know who its parents are. The baby hatch would violate this right. Very few babies are abandoned in the Netherlands, on average just one a year.
Addy Stoker has been fighting for the introduction of baby hatches, but his old political party, the fundamentalist Christian Union, disagreed with him on this. He is now chair of the Progressive Christian Party. Mr Stoker, who has adopted an abandoned Chinese baby, would dearly love to see the baby hatch introduced in the Netherlands.
“You can get help for all kinds of problems in the Netherlands, but apparently some mothers are in such a state of panic they can no longer see these options. In those cases, a baby hatch can be a last resort. And it does not always have to be anonymously. The mother can leave her personal details behind in the hatch. Even that option is open to a mother.”
300 German children
In Germany, the baby hatch has long been accepted. The first baby hatch was introduced in 2000. The country now has 80 baby hatches, in which about 300 babies have been left behind over the past decade. Under German law, abandoning a child is not a crime as long as it does not endanger its safety.
Belgium has only one baby hatch – in Antwerp – an initiative of the Mothers for Mothers foundation. Three babies have been abandoned there over the last ten years. The baby hatch in itself is legal, but abandoning a child in it is not. Katrin Beyer from Mothers for Mothers says “Belgium has a policy of toleration.”
“It was highly controversial at first. Politicians were against it and still aren't happy about the idea. However, the three babies that we have received so far demolish all arguments against the baby hatch. What would have happened to Marie, Thomas and little Michaelle? They would not be here today."
Illegal hatch
There is not much chance of the baby hatch being introduced in the Netherlands. There is little or no support for the idea among Dutch politicians. Some of Mr Stoker's sympathisers want to introduce the baby hatch illicitly, but he is determined to find a legal solution.
“We will keep trying to explain to people why it is so important to have the baby hatch. Incidents in which babies are found dead or have been abandoned are a fairly regular occurrence, Even if you save only one or two children, you still have done a great job.”
* How a baby hatch works
The Antwerp baby hatch is situated in the portico of a private home. The hatch consists of a door or flap in the wall which opens to reveal a cradle as well as forms which explain to the mother what will happen to her baby.
The mother can take a marker with her which identifies her as the one who abandoned the baby. The mother can anonymously get in touch with the Mothers for Mothers foundation. She also has a six-month period in which she can reconsider and get her baby back.
Opening the hatch sets off a silent alarm which alerts a worker from the foundation who will arrive at the scene within 15 minutes. The baby later undergoes a medical examination.
Email this Article
Printer-friendly version
