Child Rescue Magazine

India had installed a “baby saver” as early as 1978 (however
this was simply a wicker basket outside the door of an
orphanage at night). There are now Baby Boxes / Savers
in almost every country in the world. Nadene was also
invited to do a Tedx Talk on Baby Savers in November 2021.
The chain reaction that has spread across the globe started
in South Africa because of a baby that was found alive on
the Queen Elizabeth bridge who died whilst journalists were
taking photos, and subsequently, another dead baby was
dumped in a rubbish bin of a Deacon in the Church
where Cheryl Allen was the pastor. Thanks to
her actions in trying to provide an anonymous
safer option for desperate mothers, there has
been a ripple effect around the world which
has saved many lives.
Sadly, abandonment rates remain high in
South Africa and are up there with India and
China although we have a quarter of the
population but often our abandonments
are far more violent. It is estimated
that around 3500 babies survive unsafe
abandonment every year and that for every
baby found alive, two are found dead.
In February 2021, Dr Whitney Rosenberg (Senior law
lecturer) and Nadene Grabham (Operations
Director of Door of Hope) drafted a
law proposal which was presented to
parliament. The proposal aims to legalise
safe relinquishment of a baby through a
Baby Saver. They co-founded Baby Savers
SA and were joined by founding members
Sandy Immelman (Helderberg Baby Savers)
and Tahiyya Hassim (New BeginningZ).
And so Baby Savers SA came to be a
national coalition with the aim of ending
unsafe baby abandonment in South Africa.
After all, our constitution states that everyone has a right to life.
Unsafe abandonment takes away this right, a baby saver reinstates this right. The fight continues
and we won’t give up!
To date over 540 babies have safely been relinquished through baby
savers in South Africa but this is a drop in the ocean as almost all
research has shown that around 10 000 babies are abandoned across the
country every year and 2 out of 3 babies die from unsafe abandonment.
A BABY SAVER IS A LIFE SAVING DEVICE.
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