Natasha Prince
2 October 2008
Child rights experts say that more accessible health care could have prevented the abandonment and deaths of four babies whose bodies were found.
The babies' bodies were found in different parts of the city in drains, canals and open fields.
Ina Vermuelen of Child Welfare said the increasing number of babies found dead was a matter of extreme concern.
She said they had noticed a worrying trend in the past 18 months with a rising number of young mothers abandoning their children in open spaces.
She said mothers were leaving their children in fields or dustbins, whereas in the past they would leave the babies in hospitals or police stations where there was a possibility the babies could be discovered.
She said the main factors that led to the abandonment were poverty and family pressures, because young mothers either could not afford to care for their babies or because they were afraid to tell the family they had given birth.
"It seems like more young mothers simply can't look after their children anymore, which is probably why they are doing what they do," she said.
Joan van Niekerk of Childline said that not only were more accessible clinics needed but also the attitudes of the healthcare officials was important.
She said the need for critical care had to be extended to a psychological level to help young mothers cope with their pregnancies.
She said young mothers who went to hospitals and antenatal clinics were often not properly assessed.
They abandoned their babies in desperation and the legal responses to these mothers were not having enough of an impact.
Vermeulen advised young pregnant women who did not want their babies to consider abortion, adoption, foster care or approaching a related welfare organisations for help.
The bodies of four babies were found in one week:
Nyanga police recovered the body of a naked one-month-old baby girl wrapped in plastic and blankets along a railway track in Heinz Park this week. Two youths had discovered the body.
Diep River police found the body of a naked newborn baby girl in a black bag under a bush on a field in Groenewald in Southfield.
Police spokesman Inspector Keith Chandler said the umbilical cord and after-birth were also found in the bag, which was submerged in water that had flooded the footpath.
The field is frequently used by factory and industrial workers. Passers-by alerted police.
The body was taken to Salt River Mortuary and the plastic bag was sent for forensic investigation.
Anyone with information can contact Sergeant Roberts at 021 710 7321.
Police in Kraaifontein also found the body of an eight-month-old premature foetus in a drain in Wallacedene on September 24.
Police captain Gerhard Niemand confirmed that passers-by had found the foetus which police removed from the drain and took to Salt River Mortuary. A 22-year-old woman was arrested.
Another baby's body was found with a piece of plastic attached to its neck in the Vygieskraal canal in Bridgetown, Athlone, on Saturday.
Vernon Peet of the Community Policing Forum said they were not sure which direction the baby had come from.
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