A one-day-old baby girl was found wrapped in a jacket and towel, lying on top of a pillow, inside a purple bag, just outside the entrance to a hospital in Midrand.
Midrand Child and Family Care Association director, Dipuo Matjila told Midrand Reporter that the child, who was born on 1 September and abandoned a day after, is now at a place of safety.
“We were contacted by the hospital and are now looking for any information regarding the parents of the baby who has been named, Daisy. The child was not born at the hospital; we suspect she was born at home and think that the person who abandoned the child came from another area and chose to dump the child at the hospital,” said Matjila.
She said sometimes children, in some cases, abandoned children, are left with a neighbour or relative and the parents never return. Matjila explained that women should know that they have other options instead of abandoning children. “If you are in a difficult place, contact social workers and tell them that you are pregnant. There are options such as foster care and adoption, which are accompanied with counselling,” advised Matjila.
“At times, if the mother is an illegal immigrant, it makes it harder for us to trace biological parents of a foreign child who is abandoned,” said Matjila.
Details: Anyone with information on the biological mother/parents of the baby can contact Midrand Child and Family Care Association’s Thabang Mapheto on 011 027 2217 or Dipuo Matjila on 011 027 2226.
