: The country’s first baby hatch in a hospital has begun operation.
Located in KPJ Ipoh Specialist Hospital at Jalan Raja di-Hilir here, the hatch was launched by state senior executive councillor Datuk Hamidah Osman yesterday.
Hospital chief executive officer Nasirruddin Harun said the programme was part of its corporate social responsibility.
“The baby hatch is aimed at saving the lives of innocent newborns who are not wanted by their parents,” he said.
The hospital, said Nasirruddin, collaborated with the state Welfare Department.
“With this service, we hope to reduce the number of abandoned babies in Perak,” he added.
Explaining the hatch’s procedure, Nasirruddin said that when a baby is placed within, an alarm would be triggered.
“Our personnel will examine the baby and if he’s found to be healthy, we will hand him over to the Welfare Department,” he said.
“If the baby needs medical attention, our doctors will treat him first for free,” he said, adding that the identity of the person who placed the baby in the hatch would remain a secret.
Hospital medical director Datuk Dr Fadzli Cheah, who defended the move in having the hatch, admitted that it would not totally solve the problem of baby-dumping.
“We need a holistic approach, including educating people on teenage pregnancy,” he said.
Hamidah said the state would embark on a statewide campaign next year to educate people on pregnancy and about the hatch.
“We will go to schools and factories to distribute pamphlets about the need to place unwanted babies in a safe place,” she said, adding that having the hatch did not mean the state was encouraging premarital sex.
