By Mustafa Shafawi | Posted: 17 August 2010 1523 hrs 
SINGAPORE: An average of three babies were abandoned alive
each year, from 2005 to 2009. The number has not risen.
Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS), Vivian
Balakrishnan, revealed the figure in his written response to a
question from Nominated MP Laurence Wee.
He said there is a network of support services for expectant
mothers in Singapore, and a 24-hour toll-free MUM-TO-BE helpline,
manned by social workers to counsel distressed mothers.
Last year, some 1,000 calls were made to the helpline.
Teenagers in pregnancy crises can seek help from the Babes service
through the use of SMS.
In 2009, the service received close to 1500 SMSes and helped 79
teens with pregnancy related needs.
Dr Balakrishnan said MCYS also works with voluntary welfare
organisations running shelters and other services for expectant
mothers.
Another source of help available is Sanctuary House, which provides
short-term emergency infant care services.
By providing an opportunity for the parents to leave their babies
in a safe home environment for a temporary period, parents are able
to seek assistance and consider care options for their infants
rather than abandoning them in unsafe conditions or
environments.
On whether the government will consider developing a baby hatch or
baby drop similar to the one in Malaysia, Dr Balakrishnan said the
experiences of countries such as the US and Japan have not shown
they're effective.
Cases of babies abandoned in unsafe places are still reported
despite such baby drops, he said.
Dr Balakrishnan said efforts at raising awareness on the avenues of
help, reaching out to those at-risk and providing responsive
services to those in need must continue. -CNA/vm