A welfare corporation opened Japan’s second “baby hatch” at a Tokyo hospital on Monday for accepting babies in cases of unwanted pregnancies to prevent parents from abandoning them in unsafe conditions or killing them.
San-ikukai Social Welfare Inc. also launched on the same day a “confidential birth” system at San-ikukai Hospital in Sumida Ward, in the country’s second case, to allow women to give birth without revealing their identities other than to the hospital.
“Working with the public administration, we will be the last line of defense for the protection of babies’ lives,” said managing director Motonobu Nakamura at a press conference at the metropolitan government building.
The Tokyo government, which has jurisdiction over the capital’s child welfare centers, said it will establish a verification committee to monitor San-ikukai’s operations.
Motonobu Nakamura (R), managing director of San-Ikukai Social Welfare Inc., speaks at a press conference in Tokyo on March 31, 2025. (Kyodo)
The move was prompted by the increasing number of women suffering from unexpected pregnancies and isolated births, as well as a string of cases of infant abandonment, the group said.
For the baby hatch, San-ikukai expects the babies to be up to 4 weeks old, with the group’s website providing information on how to leave an infant and what precautions to take.
Staff will be available within one minute after the baby is left, after which the group must notify a child welfare center.
Confidential birth consultations over the phone are also available on weekdays.
The Tokyo government said it would work with Sumida Ward authorities to secure foster homes and create family registers for babies left in the hatch or born in the confidential system.
Jikei Hospital in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, set up Japan’s first baby hatch in 2007 and had dealt with 179 cases as of fiscal 2023. The hospital also introduced the country’s first confidential birth system in 2019 with 46 cases since the first such birth in 2021.
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