Relief as Glenwood baby safe is utilised
Leanne Lorrance from Likhon iThemba said a beautiful, healthy baby, very clearly loved as he was dressed nicely and wrapped in blankets, was placed in the baby safe at the Hop Shop.
A LOCAL NPO has praised a woman for her care for her one-day-old baby boy, after she left him in the baby safe at its Hop Shop premises in Helen Joseph Road, Glenwood.
Leanne Lorrance from Likhon iThemba said at around 5.10pm on Friday, 20 November, her phone beeped to notify her that a baby had been placed in the safe.
She said he was a beautiful, healthy baby, very clearly loved as he was dressed nicely and wrapped in blankets.
The baby safe was installed in the wall at the Hop Shop in June 2019, motivated by what Leanne and Kim Brown from Likhon iThemba said was a shocking number of incidents of babies and foetuses being dumped in the area.
The safe was erected as a place where desperate mothers could leave their babies safely, knowing they would be taken care of.
There was outrage in the community after an incident in September 2019 when the body of a baby was found in a garbage bag outside a block of flats on Helen Joseph Road, directly across the road from the baby safe.
ALSO READ: Outrage as baby dumped meters from Glenwood baby safe
Leanne said she felt ambivalent following the use of the safe.
“It is exciting for us, but also sad. Our hearts break for this mommy who took the decision to leave her baby safely in our baby safe. We are so proud of her for leaving him in a place he would be found and cared for immediately,” she said.
Leanne said the baby was recovered in seconds and she thereafter called Heather Roos from the Umbilo CPF. The women took the baby to the Umbilo SAPS where the paperwork was completed, and then to the hospital for the baby to have a check-up.
“We got home to HOLAH (baby home) at 10.30pm and he was happy, healthy and content. As the home is full, he was then moved to another home on Monday,” she said.
Kim said: “A lot of cases where babies are dumped or abandoned are due to a lack of education as the mothers do not know what to do. There is a stigma attached to adoption and women tend to either leave their babies at the hospital or dump them after they are born, as some women manage to hide their pregnancies from their families.”
Leanne said she was overjoyed with the positive feedback and comments towards the mother on the HOLAH social media page. “It is important to get the message out that this woman did the right thing. She was really brave and did a good thing for her little boy,” she said.
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