Vancouver Hospital Welcomes Abandoned Babies – April 30, 2010

St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver has announced that it has launched a program to accept the babies of any woman who feels she can no longer care for her infant.  New mothers who want to give up their children because they face addiction, poverty or immaturity will be able to anonymously drop off their babies and walk away.

The program, the first of its kind in Canada, is called Angel’s Cradle.  Mothers will be able to place their babies inside a bassinet in a secure area in the emergency department and leave.  The cradle is equipped with an alarm that goes off 30 seconds after a baby is placed inside.  Neither police nor hospital officials will track down the mother.

The hospital is operated by Providence Health Care, a Catholic organization.  A spokesperson stated that abandonment is a fact of life and Angel’s Cradle provides a better option than simply leaving the baby outside or something worse. “Every month we have women in the hospital who have babies and leave them here, which is one thing, but some women abandon them in unsafe condition,” he said.  “In February there was a baby's body found in Burns Bog after being put in a dumpster, there was another found between houses in East Vancouver. In the past we've had babies left on the steps of the hospital.”

While some argue that this could lead to more children being abandoned, Dr. Geoffrey Cundiff disagrees.  Head of St. Paul’s department of obstetrics and gynecology department, Cundiff helped design Angel Cradle.  He said “"I think that there's a sizable subset of people who, when they first hear about it, it seems wrong because the whole idea of a mother abandoning a baby is hard to take.  But I think when they actually stop and think about what we're trying to do, we're trying to make sure that there's an alternative for the baby, I think that it's usually well received.”

Babies left in the Angel’s Cradle bassinet are then placed in the care of the British Columbia Ministry of Children and Family Development.  If the mother decides she wants the baby back, she can contact the Ministry to arrange a meeting with social worker.

The Executive Director of Vancouver`s Options for Sexual Health, which until recently was Planned Parenthood, said that his organization is firmly in support of the program.  Greg Smith said “From our perspective, this is a good idea. Anything that supports the health of new babies and new mothers is good.”

Neither Smith nor Cundiff think the program will lead to an increase in the number of cases. Smith said “"I don't think that anybody will be less careful about their decisions on sexual health or sexuality just because the Angel's Cradle is there.”

The idea is actually an ancient one.  It was first introduced in the 12^th century and called “founding wheels.”  The wheels were wooden cylinders in the walls of convents.  The mother placed her baby in the cylinder, rotated the wheel placing the baby inside the convent, and rang a bell to alert the nuns. 

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