Waldfriede Hospital has taken a unique approach to rising rates of baby abandonment in Berlin
Waldfriede Hospital has taken a unique approach to rising rates of baby abandonment in Berlin by installing on the outside of its hospital building a so-called “Baby’s Cradle” for unwanted babies. The structure, a padded cradle with a door that opens from the outside of the building, is monitored by video camera 24-hours a day and sounds an alarm in the nursing station if a baby is placed inside. The sole aim of the Baby’s Cradle is to provide a safe place for newly born babies; babies that may otherwise be left in the woods or other public places by their often young, frightened mothers, says Gabrielle Stangl, the chaplain who pioneered the idea at the hospital.
The hospital, an 80-year-old institution owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, is the first in Germany to install such a device, says Stangl, who got the idea in April this year from a patient who had heard of a similar system in use by a private, non-hospital facility in Hamburg, Germany.
“Every year in Germany 40 to 50 babies are found who have been abandoned by their mothers,” says Stangl, who points out that some mothers also kill their babies at birth. She says that the problem often arises when women-sometimes as young as 14 or 15-do not know what to do with unwanted babies. In some cultural groups in Berlin, says Stangl, an unwed woman may face harsh penalties from her family or religious community if she reveals her pregnancy.
Once placed in the Baby’s Cradle, a baby will be collected by a nurse within two minutes. The mother of the child will have a period of eight weeks in which to reclaim the baby, before an adoptive family is found.
The innovate Baby’s Cradle, which officially opened September 12, has attracted media attention across Germany, Europe, and from as far away as the United States.
Stangl, who has been a chaplain at Waldfriede Hospital since 1996, says that a future project will be to provide obstetric care to mothers who want to preserve anonymity when giving birth. “At the moment this is illegal,” says Stangl, who explains that under German law, hospital staff must collect personal information from mothers who deliver at a hospital. “But we are going to try to have this law changed so that young girls who are currently giving birth in public restrooms or the woods can get the care they need.” This will not only provide essential medical assistance to these mothers, but ensure that the babies they deliver are cared for, says Stangl.
