To think baby hatches are a really good idea?

[iMemoo]

I can't link as I'm on my phone but Alley Lofthpuse, who was herself abandoned as a baby' is campaigning to have them introduced in the uk.

The idea is a mother can leave her baby, no questions asked and without fear of prosecution.

Apparently up to 50 babies are abandoned in the uk each year, a third of them die

50 babies abandoned? I don't believe that for a moment,but I have signed.

The thing is although I think it is a good idea, people who abandon baby's in bin bags are surely not so fussed about them being found so possibly wouldn't use a hatch. I mean if you wanted to abadon a baby and wantee it to be safe surely you'd leave it in a shop or cafe or somewhere warm where it will be found rather than hiding it in a bin bag? I am in no way judging by the way I'm sure you must be pretty desperate to go to such lengths. Terribly sad.

Dex, that's from home office figures. It averages 50 every year.

There are over 700,000 births a year in England and Wales. Makes 50 such a tiny percentage

Yanbu, I can see no reason not to be in favour of them, I don't think they would encourage more babies to be abandoned, nobody is likely to leave a baby just on a whim, they would usually have to be in a pretty desperate situation to do this.

"people who abandon baby's in bin bags are surely not so fussed about them being found so possibly wouldn't use a hatch. I mean if you wanted to abadon a baby and wantee it to be safe surely you'd leave it in a shop or cafe or somewhere warm where it will be found rather than hiding it in a bin bag? "

i think those putting babies in binbags are disposing of dead babies rather than abandoning live ones

Oh was just reading sausages post about a baby found alive in a bin bag. That made me think that. Sounds awful but hopefully the mother mistook baby for Being dead iyswim

would people use them? CCTV etc etc, makes them easily identified.

If you have (EG) a teenage girl hiding something from her family, she isnt going to be strolling down the high street and using a baby box. She is goign to be secreting it away. Neither is she going to be risking travelling on public transport to the next town etc etc to use facilities. They are going to be scared, often alone, and very frightened of consequences at home - otherwise they would have been 'upfront' about the whole thing.

Its a really hard one. I guess with regards to be identified via CCTV it's easy to disguise yourself if you really want to.

Im sure that someone who has just given birth, probably with no assistance, is not going to be thinking straight at all. I'm sure there will still be women who don't use it. Poor dead babies will still be found but even if it saves the life of just a small percentage of abandoned babies it's worth it. I can't imagine it would cost very much to install a hatch either.

The women would also be able to reclaim her baby at a later date. That's surely the best outcome. I wonder how many of the women who abandon their babies really regret it a short time later. If she'd just dumped the baby in some random place it would probably be too late.

FIL was abandoned, albeit a little oplder (2, I think) I am in support

cctv is only an isue if checked: baby hatches require a sense of accepting the anonymity

ah sorry stunt. i missed that bit.