Mothers dropped off 20 infants in the “baby hatch” system at a Tokyo hospital while seven women gave “confidential births” there during the first year of the two programs.

Sanikukai Hospital in Tokyo’s Sumida Ward started both programmes at the end of March 2025.

Under the baby hatch system, mothers who are unable to take care of their newborns can leave the babies with the hospital without revealing their identities.

The programme is designed to ensure the babies receive proper medical attention and to protect them against neglect, abandonment or abuse.

The confidential birth program allows women to give birth while revealing their identities only to hospital staff. It is aimed primarily at women who want to conceal their pregnancies.

Sanikukai Hospital representatives held a news conference on July 2 at the Tokyo metropolitan government’s building to provide an update on the initiatives.

They said the hospital held 59 telephone consultations regarding confidential births, resulting in 20 women coming to the hospital for medical care in the first year.

The seven women who gave birth ranged in age from their teens to their 40s. Two of them later decided to raise the children and withdrew their requests for confidentiality.

Among those who used the baby hatch system, a lack of financial resources was the most common reason given for giving up the children, according to nurses who could talk to the mothers.

Some of the new mothers said their partners had cut off contact after learning about the pregnancy.

Of the 20 babies placed in the basket through the hatch, 16 had been delivered at home and one was born in a car.

Hitoshi Kato, director of the hospital, said such situations place both mother and child at serious risk.

“The baby basket should be a last resort. If possible, we would like women to come to us for a confidential birth,” he said.

-The Asahi Shimbun