Fatimah (standing) addresses the press conference.
KUCHING: The Ministry of Welfare, Community Well-being, Women, Family and Childhood Development is looking for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) or private hospitals that wish to set up baby hatches.
Its minister Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah said the state’s first baby hatch at KPJ Kuching Specialist Hospital is temporarily unavailable as the hospital is still looking for a suitable location in terms of technical, safety, and privacy aspects for the baby hatch at its new building.
“Therefore, NGOs or private hospitals which want to set up the baby hatch, KPJ Kuching Specialist Hospital can share their expertise,” she told a press conference after chairing the One Stop Teenage Pregnancy Committee (OSTPC) meeting yesterday.
Fatimah said the Sarawak Federation of Chinese Associations (SFCA) has pledged to help with sponsors.
“In our discussion, SFCA president Datuk Richard Wee had mentioned that the association is able to help to look for sponsors to donate funds in setting up the baby hatch,” she said.
Fatimah said five babies (one unfortunately died) were left in the baby hatch at KPJ Kuching Specialist Hospital, which was launched on Jan 20, 2017.
The babies left at the baby hatch were taken for health checks and care for or treated for three days at the paediatric ward before being handed over to the Welfare Department.
She said aside from ensuring newborn babies are safe, the ministry also wants the welfare of the mothers, especially teenage and unwed mothers, to be taken care of.
Fatimah said the Welfare Department runs the Taman Seri Puteri shelter for pregnant teenage girls who are victims of sexual crimes, including rape cases referred by the court, or are unmarried.
“We also want pregnant teenagers to come forward voluntarily, if they need help as the shelter provides all the care such as support, counselling, food, accommodation, including sports, academic, and vocational programmes such as tuition for SPM, PT3, sewing, and culinary during their pregnancy,” she said.
She also cited services provided by religious groups such as ProLife Kuching – a Christian NGO that discourages abortion and baby dumping, and also provides a support system in the areas of religion and counselling for pregnant teenagers.
Fatimah said Sarawak recorded 2,099 teenage pregnancies in 2020: Kuching – 432, Miri – 301, Sibu – 283, Bintulu – 245, Kapit – 165, Samarahan – 148, and Sarikei – 116, compared to 1,967 the previous year.
From last year’s figure, 96.17 per cent were not schooling or had dropped out, while 58.9 per cent were unmarried.
“Based on age, 65.5 per cent of them were aged 18 to 19, followed by 28.3 per cent aged 16 to 17, and the rest were aged 10 to 15 years old,” she said.
Five baby dumping cases were recorded last year – two in Kuching and one each in Sibu, Miri, and Bintulu; while in 2019 there were also five cases.
On the number of pregnant teenagers at Taman Seri Puteri, she said there were eight in 2020 – three aged 13 to 15, while the remaining five were aged 16 to 18.
In 2019, there were seven pregnant teenagers at the home.