Phuket not alone in problem of abandoned babies

Phuket NEWS Hound

– World news selected by Phuket Gazette editors for Phuket readers

Russia places boxes for mothers to drop off unwanted babies

PHUKET: Russian hospitals have begun to introduce so-called baby boxes where new mothers will be able to place their unwanted newborns, officials said on Monday.

According to the RIA Novosti news agency, Russian health officials said mothers will be able to anonymously drop off their unwanted babies in order to provide safe conditions for the newborns as many of them are commonly left in garbage containers.

The baby-boxes have an estimated cost of 10,000 euros ($13,750), and five of them have already been allocated in Krasnodar Territory, located in southern Russia. The project is expected to expand to other areas, including the Siberian cities of Perm, Tomsk, Omsk, Novosibirsk and the European Russian town of Kirov.

The Krasnodar health department official Tamara Perepelkina said no babies have been dropped off yet, underlining that women will not be prosecuted for leaving their babies in the boxes.

“Our goal is to save the child’s life,”she told the media outlet. “We set up the baby boxes in places remote from video cameras and security officers.”

Phuket has seen several cases of abandoned babies over the past year, with at least three of them having made headlines in the local and national press.

But between January and September of this year, at least six women in Russia’s Krasandor region alone have been charged with murdering their unwanted babies or leaving their child in danger. Officials hope the new boxes will stop this practice.

— Gazette Editors