Baby hatch info should be disclosed

Naoyuki Hakimoto / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
The Yomiuri Shimbun
November 29, 2007
Source: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20071129TDY04304.htm

KUMAMOTO--Six months after the nation's first baby hatch was set up at a hospital in Kumamoto, operation of the unique facility has shed light on various problems involving pregnancy and childbirth. To deepen society-wide discussions of the facility, the hospital and the local government should now disclose more information on the use of the hatch.

Jikei Hospital opened the baby hatch on May 10. The facility was conceived as a way for parents to safely abandon newborn babies whom they felt unable to raise. Since operation began, the hospital and Kumamoto city government, which approved the facility, have refused to give details of the babies left in the box.

However, insiders say that eight infants--seven boys and one girl--have so far been left in the hatch. Of those, one handicapped boy was returned to his parents after they changed their mind.

Public attention has focused on media reports that a baby was left in the hatch on its first day of operation. But this is the only case that hospital Secretary General Taiji Hasuda has been willing to discuss. "We admitted that one as it had already been reported," he said.

However, the Kumamoto city government was critical of even this limited openness, saying Hasuda had revealed too much.

The city has since set up a panel to conduct checks on the operation of the baby hatch every three months.

Its first meeting on Oct. 25 was attended by experts on child welfare and legal affairs as well as city officials. The meeting concluded that the hatch has so far operated without problem.

But the city did not disclose what was discussed in the meeting, including which aspects of the baby hatch were examined by the experts.

The hospital and the city government have made it their policy not to disclose any information regarding the hatch, mainly out of consideration for the privacy of the children left in the hatch and their parents.

It must be noted, however, that the baby hatch is no longer merely a local issue.

Indeed, the hatch is playing an important role in encouraging society to think about why there are parents who feel unable to raise their children.

"Protection of privacy is the top priority, but I think it's necessary to proactively disclose information [on the baby hatch] so it can be examined by society," Prof. Koki Tateyama of Yamaguchi University said.

Kumamoto Mayor Seichi Koyama is among those who think the baby hatch's first six months have gone well.

"[The baby hatch] made many people think about the importance of people's lives and the issue of child welfare," he said.

If he really thinks so, he should press for the greatest possible disclosure of information regarding the hatch, so that society as a whole can come to an informed judgment on the facility. While some support the hatch, saying it will save the lives of babies that might otherwise be lost, others argue that it will only encourage people to abandon their children without due consideration.

At the press conference held to mark the first six months of the hatch, Hasuda stressed the facility's significance.

"Given that this is the only [baby hatch] in the country, I don't think the number [of babies left there] was so great. The most important thing is, we saved their lives," he said.

Hasuda added that nearly half of the parents who left their children in the drop-off point left letters addressed to the hospital, explaining why they were no longer able to take care of the children.

Although Hasuda did not elaborate on the content of the letters, he said they suggested that parents who chose to use the hatch were enduring terrible mental suffering.

"We were able to sense their grief, fear and guilt [in the letters]," he said.

It can be said that the baby hatch has helped shed light on the large number of parents who find child-rearing overwhelming.

Since the idea of opening the drop-off point was made public in November last year, the hospital has been flooded with calls and visits by troubled parents.

During the one-year period, a total of 362 people asked for pregnancy or child care advice from the hospital, either via telephone or face-to-face. That was 70 times more than in fiscal 2005. Similarly, the Kumamoto city government has received more than 480 inquiries.

Of those who sought advice from the hospital, one woman said her boyfriend had run away when he found out that she was pregnant. Another woman complained that she had been turned away by a hospital during the last month of her pregnancy.

The Kumamoto hospital received similar consultations from people nationwide, presumably because there is a lack of organizations or facilities that can give such advice.

Prof. Masami Ohinata of Keisen University, an expert on developmental psychology, says that those facing problems with regard to pregnancy and child-rearing may see the baby hatch as a ray of hope.

"Many of those facing problems with pregnancy and child-rearing don't know where to go for advice. The baby hatch became a kind of symbol for such parents," Ohinata said.

So far, no parents have been held criminally responsible for leaving their children in the hatch. Because of this lack of legal constraints on use of the hatch, some have expressed concern that the public will come to see abandoning children as normal practice, even though the hatch is meant strictly for newborn babies whose parents are in the most dire circumstances.

"Our ideal is to create a society that has no need for a drop-off point like this," Hasuda said.

The baby hatch may have saved the life of some of the eight children. In this respect, the facility must be welcomed. However, we should think more seriously about the appropriateness of having a facility that allows people to abandon their children with such ease.

Information disclosure is needed to allow proper evaluation of the operation of the facility, and to deepen discussion of various issues surrounding it.

(Nov. 29, 2007)

For earlier articles on the Kumamoto baby hatch