Saving lives, one baby at a time

As infant abandonment continues to rise in South Africa, a network of baby savers offers desperate mothers a safe, anonymous alternative. By Kristin Engel

- Kristin Engel

In South Africa, where child abandonment remains a silent crisis, its victims often unseen and unheard, there exists a quiet network of everyday heroes determined to change the story.

It's called Baby Savers South Africa, and it's a coalition of concerned citizens and organisations providing desperate parents with a safe, anonymous and dignified way to relinquish their babies in cases where keeping them seems impossible.

These organisations and individuals provide an alternative to baby abandonment, offering a safe haven for newborns in crisis.

A baby saver box is a secure, designated place where a parent, often a desperate or vulnerable mother, can safely and anonymously leave a newborn. They are typically found outside hospitals, clinics or places of safety such as crisis pregnancy centres.

A baby saver box is not meant to promote abandonment, but instead provides a safe, last-resort alternative.

Speaking to Daily Maverick, Nadene Grabham, operations director of Door of Hope and cofounder of Baby Savers South Africa, said the country lacked safe-haven laws, which in other countries allowed parents to legally and anonymously leave a baby at a designated site such as a hospital or police station without fear of prosecution.

With seemingly no other choices, desperation can lead to tragedy. Sandy Immelman, founder of Helderberg Baby Savers, said: "Only a third of abandoned babies survive. The others are found too late, left in rivers, dumpsters or fields."

In an interview with Daily Maverick, Immelman explained how she came to know this heartbreak firsthand and how the Helderberg Baby Savers was established. In 2014, a newborn baby, Baby Amber, was discovered dumped next to the river in Somerset West, covered in ants and barely alive.