In safe hands: Faizah (right) with Orphancare staffers Nur Azlin Alia (left) and Nuur Ain Mohd Kharir (centre) cooing over two babies who are in Orphancare’s temporary care in Petaling Jaya. — AZHAR MAHFOF/ The Star
PETALING JAYA: The loud alarm of a baby hatch in OrphanCare Petaling Jaya went off at 1.20pm yesterday, when a baby boy fully clothed in a white and blue two-piece was placed in the cot by his mother, with a plastic bag full of diapers and clothes.
The infant, who looked about a week old, was brought into a nursery by a volunteer and had his picture taken for inspection, for a change of diapers and fed with baby formula.
He awaits his fate of being matched with adoptive parents in the week to come.
He is the latest addition to the 77 babies saved through the non-governmental organisation this year – the highest number recorded in a year since it was established in 2008.
OrphanCare Foundation general manager Zakiah A. Rahman said 636 babies have been saved in these 16 years.
“This year up till Nov 7, we’ve saved 78 babies, the most ever in a year,” she said, adding that from January to December last year, the total was 55.
She was speaking at a media appreciation session at its headquarters in Bukit Gasing here yesterday.
The foundation’s chairman Tan Sri Faizah Mohd Tahir said OrphanCare is helping save babies from being abandoned in unsafe places.
“However, I do worry if the increasing number of babies saved by the organisation signals a rising trend of babies being abandoned,” she said.
She added that the number of abandoned babies recorded by the police may be under-reported.
“Only foundling babies are typically reported to the police. It is a crime to abandon babies.”
However, Faizah stressed that it is not a crime to send unwanted babies to hatches or go to OrphanCare for help due to unplanned pregnancies.
“Some people may think that if they put the baby in the hatch or bring in the baby, they will be caught by the police.
“That is not a crime. It is a crime if you abandon the baby in unsafe places, drains or throw them out from high places,” she said.
Zakiah said higher awareness through its advocacy programme has seen more women – many of whom are university students and unemployed – with unplanned pregnancies come forward for help.
“The youngest was a 14-year-old girl and the oldest, a woman in her 40s, and their reasons range from out-of-wedlock pregnancies to financial constraints.”
Of the 636 babies saved, 505 (80%) were from walk-in birth mothers while 127 or 20% were saved from baby hatches, and four were referred by the Welfare Department, she said.
The foundation, she added, has three baby hatches in Petaling Jaya, Johor Baru and Sungai Petani (Kedah), and is currently collaborating with KPJ hospitals in five locations nationwide, as well as with An-Nur Specialist Hospital, Bangi, Selangor.
Zakiah said the babies who are received by OrphanCare are either placed for adoption or cared for by their birth mothers.
“The organisation also provides counselling for the birth mothers and encourages them to raise their own baby, rather than putting the child up for adoption,” she said.
For the organisation so far, 396 babies have been adopted while 224 are being taken care of by their birth mothers and 15 referred to the Welfare Department.
Riza Alwi, the foundation’s advocacy and communications manager, said the NGO’s role is to help women and not to advocate premarital sex.
“We never judge these women because among them are rape victims or victims of circumstances. Those who seek help have a sensible mind or else they would have abandoned their baby,” she said.
OrphanCare will be holding a fundraising high-tea at Berjaya Times Square Hotel in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 23.
Among the programmes planned is a sharing session by adoptive parents.
Sponsorship packages start from RM3,000 to RM20,000, with donations eligible for tax exemption.
Those interested can contact Zakiah at 013-384 0421 or Riza at 019-280 7977.
