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Child Rescue Magazine

Official magazine of the child rescue center

Official magazine of the child rescue center

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India had installed a “baby saver” as early as 1978 (however<br />

this was simply a wicker basket outside the door of an<br />

orphanage at night). There are now Baby Boxes / Savers<br />

in almost every country in the world. Nadene was also<br />

invited to do a Tedx Talk on Baby Savers in November 2021.<br />

The chain reaction that has spread across the globe started<br />

in South Africa because of a baby that was found alive on<br />

the Queen Elizabeth bridge who died whilst journalists were<br />

taking photos, and subsequently, another dead baby was<br />

dumped in a rubbish bin of a Deacon in the Church<br />

where Cheryl Allen was the pastor. Thanks to<br />

her actions in trying to provide an anonymous<br />

safer option for desperate mothers, there has<br />

been a ripple effect around the world which<br />

has saved many lives.<br />

Sadly, abandonment rates remain high in<br />

South Africa and are up there with India and<br />

China although we have a quarter of the<br />

population but often our abandonments<br />

are far more violent. It is estimated<br />

that around 3500 babies survive unsafe<br />

abandonment every year and that for every<br />

baby found alive, two are found dead.<br />

In February 2021, Dr Whitney Rosenberg (Senior law<br />

lecturer) and Nadene Grabham (Operations<br />

Director of Door of Hope) drafted a<br />

law proposal which was presented to<br />

parliament. The proposal aims to legalise<br />

safe relinquishment of a baby through a<br />

Baby Saver. They co-founded Baby Savers<br />

SA and were joined by founding members<br />

Sandy Immelman (Helderberg Baby Savers)<br />

and Tahiyya Hassim (New BeginningZ).<br />

And so Baby Savers SA came to be a<br />

national coalition with the aim of ending<br />

unsafe baby abandonment in South Africa.<br />

After all, our constitution states that everyone has a right to life.<br />

Unsafe abandonment takes away this right, a baby saver reinstates this right. The fight continues<br />

and we won’t give up!<br />

To date over 540 babies have safely been relinquished through baby<br />

savers in South Africa but this is a drop in the ocean as almost all<br />

research has shown that around 10 000 babies are abandoned across the<br />

country every year and 2 out of 3 babies die from unsafe abandonment.<br />

A BABY SAVER IS A LIFE SAVING DEVICE.<br />

10

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