At least two babies are abandoned each week at Harare Maternal Hospital while several more are brought to the institution by the Zimbabwe Republic Police, said Matron Dade Pedzisai.
“It is usually teenage mothers who abandon their babies due to unwanted pregnancy. Their boyfriends leave them and family members shun them. They find it difficult to look after the babies,” Pedzisai said.
The Harare-based Zimbabwe Orphan Care home said the level of baby dumping was concerning.
“Over recent years there has been a distressing trend of babies being ‘dumped’ after they are born,” said JOC in a statement.
In 2011, seven babies at the institution were handed over to the Grace Mugabe Orphanage Home in Mazoe. The set up at the hospital seems to make it easier for mothers to abandon their children as the babies are kept in a separate room.
Post published in: News