Three babies left at Basel baby hatch return to birth parents

Five newborns have been left at the baby hatch at Bethesda Hospital in Basel since it opened in 2015, and three of the first four children have since returned to their biological parents, SRF reported. The possible return of a fifth child is now being assessed.

In late May, a woman left her newborn daughter at the hatch. The hospital cared for the baby and alerted the authorities. A few days later, the mother contacted the Swiss Aid for Mother and Child Foundation, which operates the hatch, and said she wanted her child back. A DNA test confirmed she was the mother.

The girl is currently living with foster parents. The Basel-Stadt Child and Adult Protection Authority is assessing whether her mother can take on her care and upbringing. The prospects for a reunion are good, according to a report by the Basel-Landschaft government responding to a parliamentary question from Lucia Mikeler Knaack of the Social Democratic Party.

Government backs review of anonymous births

The Basel-Landschaft government says the hatch is meeting its purpose and sees no need for additional services at cantonal level. It also currently opposes greater state oversight or a state takeover of the facility.

The government supports a federal-level discussion on introducing anonymous births. Switzerland does not provide for anonymous births, unlike some European countries, but does allow confidential births. In those cases, the mother’s identity is recorded with the authorities but kept from public view.

Anonymous births could complement baby hatches and confidential births, and increase medical safety for mothers and children, the government says. Baby hatches have existed in Switzerland since 2001, when the first opened in Einsiedeln. Since then, 32 children have been left at hatches across the country.