In this picture taken on June 10, 2022, a staff member demonstrates the baby hatch room at Jikei hospital in Kumamoto. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)
Kumamoto, Japan 鈥斅燱hen 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 only 鈥渃onfidential birth鈥� program.
These have made it the target of criticism, but head doctor Takeshi Hasuda sees the facility as a vital safety net.
鈥淭here are women out there who are ashamed that they did something horrible (by getting pregnant) and are so scared,鈥� he told AFP.
鈥淔or these women, a place like ours that bars no one and makes them think 鈥榚ven I will be welcome鈥� counts a lot, I think.鈥�
Nurses try to arrive at the hatch, with its stork illustrations and meticulously tended baby bed, within a minute of the alarm sounding.
鈥淚f we find mothers lingering nearby, we ask if they鈥檙e comfortable sharing their stories with us,鈥� said hospital staffer Saori Taminaga.
They offer to check the health of mothers, providing support and encouraging them to leave information that could help a child learn their origins later.
鈥淚f they try to go, we persist and keep pushing until just before they leave the grounds. Once that happens, it鈥檚 time for us to give up.鈥�
The Catholic-run hospital opened its baby hatch in 2007, modelled on a German scheme.
Baby hatches have existed globally for centuries and are used today in places including South Korea, Pakistan and the United States.
But they have been banned in some countries, such as Britain, and criticized by the UN for violating a child鈥檚 right to know their parents and identity.
This picture taken on June 10, 2022 shows sweatshirts and a pair of white sneakers belonging to Koichi Miyatsu, items on him as a toddler when we was placed in a 鈥渂aby hatch鈥� where children can be left anonymously by desperate family, as he speaks during an interview with AFP in Kumamoto. 聽(Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)
鈥楢lienated by society鈥�
Jikei hospital sees the hatch as a way to prevent child abuse and deaths in Japan, where police recorded 27 child abandonments in 2020 and at least 57 children died from abuse the year before.
Hasuda says children abandoned at the hospital include those who were 鈥渢he result of prostitution, rape and incest,鈥� with mothers finding nowhere else to turn.
鈥淚 think the most important role our baby hatch system has played so far is to provide a sort of last resort for women left alienated by society,鈥� he said.
In all, 161 babies and toddlers have been dropped at the hospital 鈥� with some coming from the Tokyo region, about 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) away, and beyond.
But the hatch has also faced scepticism in Japan, partly because of traditional ideas about what constitutes a family, according to Chiaki Shirai, an expert on reproduction and adoption studies at Shizuoka University.
The country uses a registration system that lists births, deaths and marriages in a family going back generations. The crucial piece of administrative data also shapes views on family structure.
It has 鈥渆ntrenched the idea in Japanese society that whoever gave birth to a child must raise the child,鈥� to the point where children are almost considered 鈥渢he property鈥� of parents, Shirai told AFP.
鈥淐hildren who are abandoned and shown as having no family in the registry are heavily stigmatized.鈥�
Despite the anonymity offered by the hatch, child welfare officials typically try to trace the family of infants abandoned at the hospital.
As a result, around 80 percent later learned their family鈥檚 identity, and 20 percent have returned to parents or relatives.
鈥業t鈥檚 all your fault鈥�
Jikei hospital has expanded the services it offers marginalized women, adding a 鈥渃onfidential birth鈥� program to a pregnancy hotline that fields thousands of calls a year.
Two babies have been delivered under the program, which the hospital says is intended to discourage risky, solitary deliveries at home.
Both mothers told the Jikei they had been abused by their parents and wanted their children to be put up for adoption, Hasuda said.
Under the scheme, a mother鈥檚 identity is revealed to a single staffer and kept confidential for possible disclosure to the child later on.
The program has also faced opposition 鈥� and while the government has not declared it illegal, it has baulked at legislation to formalize it.
Shirai said women who resort to confidential births or the baby hatch face judgement for not choosing other options, including abortion.
鈥溾�榊ou could have chosen an abortion but didn鈥檛. Now it鈥檚 all your fault鈥� is the kind of sentiment,鈥� she said.
Abortion has been legal in Japan since 1948 and is available up until 22 weeks, but consent is required from a male partner. Exceptions are granted only in cases of rape or domestic abuse, or if the partner is dead or missing.
Hasuda, too, feels society often prefers to blame women rather than help them.
鈥淪ociety鈥檚 motivation to sympathize with them or help them out seems to be low, if not completely non-existent,鈥� he said.