Jikei hospital has been the only place in Japan a child can be safely abandoned for 15 years.
KUMAMOTO, Japan: When the alarm sounds at Jikei hospital in southern Japan, nurses race down a spiral staircase. Their mission: to rescue an infant left in the country’s only baby hatch.
For 15 years, the clinic has been the only place in Japan a child can be anonymously and safely abandoned.
The pioneering hospital in the Kumamoto region also offers a 24/7 pregnancy support hotline and the country’s only “confidential birth” programme.
These have made it the target of criticism, but head doctor Takeshi Hasuda sees the facility as a vital safety net.
“There are women out there who are ashamed that they did something…
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