Give your baby a chance to live, Yeoh tells mums with unwanted pregnancies

Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Hannah Yeoh speaks before the screening of an anti-baby dumping commercial as part of the government’s ‘Save A Life’ campaign.

SUBANG JAYA: Revealing that more than 1,000 babies were dumped between 2010 and May this year, Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Hannah Yeoh
urged mothers not to throw their newborn away and to give them a chance to live.

She said 65% of the 1,010 babies dumped during the period were already dead when found.

Speaking at an event at a mall here today, Yeoh said she wanted those with unwanted pregnancies to know that they were not alone and they could always reach out for help at the Talian Kasih helpline.

She said the government understood that most who dumped their babies did so out of fear and this was why Putrajaya was reaching out to those with unwanted pregnancies.

“We are here to help you give your baby a chance to live. There are many couples who want to adopt. Don’t throw your baby away, save a life,” she said after the screening of an anti-baby dumping commercial as part of the government’s “Save A Life” campaign.

The campaign will see the commercial being screened at 35 TGV cinemas nationwide, and posters being put up at toilets at 22 PLUS highway R&R areas.

Yeoh said the government’s outreach programmes were usually done in the form of seminars, but the target group was youth who did not attend such programmes and, as such, new approaches like the commercial and posters were needed.

The most common place for people to dump their babies, she said, was around residences, toilets and rubbish dumps.

“So, we have to go to these places so those who want to dump can think where they can give up their baby,” she said.

For now, she said there were baby hatches under the management of OrphanCare and KPJ Hospitals.

“They can also call Talian Kasih at 15999 and surrender the baby to the Welfare Department,” she said.

Yeoh also said there were 1,305 couples on the Welfare Department’s waiting list to adopt children.

“They are ready to be parents, we need to match this,” she said, adding that the government’s priority is to save a life. - FMT