Seventh Day Adventists

3 Pages 639 Words

Summary on “Germany: Adventist Hospital a Refuge for Abandoned Babies”
03/20/03
http://www.adventist.org/


I chose this article because the title of the article captivated me. The article had little to do with the Adventist religion itself, but rather the community aide and support it provides for others.
The Seventh-day Adventist Hospital in Berlin, Krankenhaus Waldfriede, Germany has started a program where mothers can bring their newborn babies to the hospital and abandon them there. It began as an action to try to prevent and to stop the rates of abandoned children from rising. The program started about three years ago and is called the “Baby Cradle”. The actual “Baby Cradle” is a small door on the outside wall of the hospital. This is the door where mothers can open and place their baby inside. Confidentiality is assured and the mother has enough time to leave the area without being seen. Then the process begins of what to do with the baby. Once the baby is inside the “cradle,” a signal goes to the front gate. The front gate staff then makes a telephone call to inform the nurses in the baby ward that a newborn baby has just been placed in the cradle. Next, they take the baby and place it in the ward, where it is given a health check. The baby then stays in the care of the hospital for the next couple of days, while the staff works on finding a family to adopt the baby. The mother of the abandoned baby then has up to eight weeks to reconsider and claim her baby. Pretty simple huh? I have mixed feelings about this. I feel that what they are doing for the babies is great. They are giving these babies a chance at life and trying their best to find homes for these babies. Yet at the same time, I feel as if they are treating the baby like it is a piece of property. I mean what kind of a mother could actually take her child and place it in a door to leave for whoever and whatever? I honestly f...