Posted on 07/04/2004 3:12:54 PM PDT by Lorianne
A cradle-baby scheme in Tamil Nadu has helped save 461 newborns in an area once notorious for its high incidence of female infanticide.
A staggering 436 of these babies who have got a new lease of life thanks to the cradle-baby centre of the government hospital in Dharmapuri district are girls.
The centre was set up in April 2003 in a bid to deter unwed mothers and couples who did not want girls from killing their newborns, as was a widespread practice in Dharmapuri and some other southern districts of Tamil Nadu.
Cradles are kept at the hospital entrance where babies can be placed. Hospital staff constantly monitors the cradles and once a baby is left, it is quickly taken inside, cleaned, clothed and fed.
The success rate of the centre has been phenomenal, NGOs operating in the area say.
Government officials in the district have also played a helping hand, NGOs say.
They point to the case of Murugesan and his wife Tamil Selvi, who one night silently put their one-day-old baby girl in the hospital's cradle. She was the fourth girl child born to the young mother.
After abandoning the child, the mother reportedly went through severe trauma and dreamt of the child trying to come back to her.
District collector Ashish Vachhani managed to talk the parents into taking back their daughter. The couple was also advised on contraception and family planning.
The parents now say they will bring up the girl, even though they are very poor.
There is also the case of Shanmugam and Muniamma.
They too left a baby girl in the hospital's cradle but have been persuaded to take back the child and bring her up. They have also been roped in by the administration to take part in its awareness campaign in the villages.
The cradle scheme had its beginnings in 1992, when J. Jayalalitha first became chief minister of Tamil Nadu.
Cradles were kept at government hospitals and at social welfare centres for mothers to keep their unwanted babies.
There are no reliable records on how many babies have been saved in this way but as the Dharmapuri centre has proved, the scheme is working.
Hi Lorianne, thanks for this pro-life post. E.C.
I'm a hungry fellow.
I eat babies.
There's no hope for humanity.
Especially us two.
What a wonderful report!
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