Johannesburg - While the Gauteng Department of Health has lauded the decrease in the number of abandoned babies in the province’s hospitals, welfare organisations say it’s a different story on the ground.
According to Health MEC Hope Papo, there are currently 10 babies born in various hospitals waiting to be claimed.
In a reply to DA MPL Jack Bloom’s questions at the Gauteng legislature, Papo said there were three babies at Tembisa Hospital, while Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital, Pholosong Hospital, Dr Yusuf Dadoo Hospital, Kopanong Hospital, Odi and Carletonville Hospital had one baby each waiting for placement.
Furthermore, Papo said there were no babies unaccounted for in hospitals in the Tshwane health district this year. However, the numbers haven’t always been this low.
In 2011, a total of 136 babies were abandoned, in 2012 the number stood at 135, and 89 were abandoned from January to August this year.
During the period, Carletonville was worst affected with 55 abandoned babies, while Pholosong had 41 abandoned babies, and Tembisa and Far East Rand hospitals each had 35 abandoned babies.
Papo said it was difficult to provide a reason for why babies were abandoned, as the babies’ mothers could not be traced and interviewed. “It is assumed that this could be due to unplanned pregnancies,” he said.
Cheryl Allen, director at Door of Hope - a home for abandoned and orphaned babies - said on Thursday that their organisation hadn’t noticed a decrease in the number of babies who were abandoned.
“We got 12 babies last month. We get some of the babies in our ‘hole in the wall’, some through community members, and some through mothers themselves or the police. The numbers may be down in hospitals but it may be because hospital staff are hard on mothers and some mothers just abort babies,” Allen said that according to her sources, one clinic in May had 670 abortion requests.
“Hospitals should have safe places where mothers can leave their babies if they do not want them,” Allen continued.
Since the organisation started in 1999, Allen said 153 babies had been abandoned and left to their care. Currently, there are 57.
Papo said babies were placed in child welfare organisations by the hospitals after all efforts to trace their parents had failed, and that most were born prematurely.
Nomvuyo Shabangu, manager of the child and family unit at Johannesburg Child Welfare, said they worked with three hospitals in the Joburg area, and that they were still getting many abandoned babies from police and community members. But the good news was that the babies were getting adopted - Shabangu said that in the past two years, 96 children had been adopted.
“Currently, 26 children who had been abandoned and went through our processes for placement are ready to be adopted, and 97 still have to undergo medical assessments and clearing processes before they can be ready for adoption,” she added.
The Star