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'angel cradles' offer safe option for mothers who are unable to keep their babies

about a dozen babies are born and left at st. paul's hospital in vancouver for adoption every year, while others are abandoned in unsafe environments which often leads to tragedy.

by robin roberts

published dec 12, 2022

6 minute read

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6 minute read

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the concept dates back to the "foundling wheels" of the 12th century

any babies that are saved is a "win," says dr. geoffrey cundiff, who established angel's cradle in vancouver, b.c. photo credit: providence health care

for three days, in the bitter february cold of 2010, dozens of rcmp officers combed a suburban vancouver landfill. the subject of their search? a newborn baby boy. after the tiny body was finally recovered, wrapped in a towel inside a garbage bag, the 20-year-old mother was located and sentenced to six months’ house arrest. sadly, this story is not unique. there are numerous babies abandoned across the country every year, safely and unsafely. and while nobody can fully understand what would drive someone to toss an innocent infant away like so much trash, no baby deserves to have their life cut short in such a horrific way.

“canada has a strong social safety net for pregnant women, and yet there are still those who abandon their babies, in hospitals and in the community,” says dr. geoffrey cundiff, professor and head of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at ubc. “the ones delivered in a hospital do fine, the ones who aren’t, you wonder what could have been. that’s what really made me think about an old solution.”

“foundling wheels” were for abandoned babies

that “old solution” dates back to the 12^th century, when pope innocent iii was shocked by the number of dead babies floating in central italy’s tiber river. he is credited with instituting the first “foundling wheel,” a revolving wooden barrel lodged in the wall of a convent where women could leave their unwanted babies anonymously. the wheels, also called baby hatches, continued on in some form throughout europe, and were eventually adopted in the u.s. and canada.

cundiff learned of foundling wheels about 13 years ago while an ob/gyn at st. paul’s hospital in vancouver, and approached leadership at providence health care about establishing an updated version, called angel’s cradle. they backed it without question. but others weren’t so easily persuaded.

“there was a small minority who were quite against it, for several reasons,” he says. “it was a very emotional basis for their opposition and they often framed it as, ‘well, these babies will never know their heritage.’ i guess that’s true, but they’re alive. other people’s concerns were at a much more visceral level about the idea of mothers abandoning their baby. that doesn’t feel right to most of us.”

he says there have been only a few babies left in the cradle over the years, while about a dozen a year are born and left at the hospital for adoption. “on top of that, there are still some that are abandoned [in the community]. but any that are saved are a win.”

an angel sign visible from the street indicates the cradle’s location at the side of the hospital’s emergency department. there are no cameras, nobody watching, no security or police who approaches, so the mother — or anyone who finds an abandoned infant — can place the baby anonymously. thirty seconds later, a sensor alerts hospital staff, who assess the baby and administer any necessary treatment.

a hospital social worker then contacts the ministry of children and family development, which assumes care of the baby, who is then placed in foster care and, ultimately, up for adoption.

‘cradles’ across canada

cundiff isn’t sure how many angel’s cradles have since launched across the country — there have been calls for similar programs in ontario — but he does get contacted by doctors at other canadian hospitals interested in the idea. one of those was dr. gordon self, chief mission and ethics officer for covenant health in alberta.

“we asked ourselves whether we should be developing something [similar],” says self. “we had reflected on our own clinical experience caring for moms who had abandoned their babies in an unsafe environment that resulted in some tragic consequences. so we immediately saw the need.”

dr. gordon self, chief mission & ethics officer for covenant health, launched angel cradle in edmonton, based on the original vancouver angel’s cradles program. credit: covenant health

working with alberta health services, police, local government and stakeholders, self spearheaded two, called angel cradles, simultaneously in 2013, both in edmonton — one at the grey nuns community hospital and the other at misericordia hospital. a third followed soon after, independent of covenant, called hope’s cradle in the town of strathmore’s fire department.

“we’ve used it successfully twice, and both cases a newborn was left at grey nuns,” says self. “both instances the newborn was healthy, so it was a positive outcome. initially we said if it was never used that’s fine. our goal is to mitigate abandonment, but we know it does occur.”

self says $80,000 grant money paid for the launch of the program, and running it is part of normal operational expenses. some of the budget went to advertising, with posters placed in women’s washrooms across downtown edmonton, lrt stations, university campuses and some restaurants and bars. “we wanted it to be known,” he says.

will mother and child ever meet again?

cundiff says that, while no one’s hunting down the parent who left the baby (unless the baby shows signs of harm, then the police get involved), the ministry of child and family development does make an effort, through advertising, to find the mother and reunite her with the baby in case it was an impulsive, regrettable decision.

“we know very little about women who abandon babies and what their motivations are,” he says. “clearly, if anonymity is so important, there must be an issue of their safety versus the baby’s safety. there could be all sorts of scenarios — an abusive relationship, a young girl who could be abandoned by her family if she’s pregnant, an immigrant who’s afraid to be deported.”

self says, like st. paul’s, there’s a protocol in place for the babies left in the cradle.

“we make sure the baby is safe,” he explains. “we do the assessment [through] neonatology services, and then normal processes kick in: social work contacts children’s services who assumes custody of the infant [who then goes into] foster care and ultimately adoption. we’re just managing a gap; creating a safe environment to avert a tragedy.”

he says covenant supports the notion that every child has the right to know their parental history, and the angel cradles allow for that child to live another day should they, someday, decide to seek that knowledge. to that end, if either parent or child wanted to reconnect, that process is handled by the appropriate government agency, such as the ministry of children and family development.

“i’m speculating, but you can imagine at some point a person may have become aware of their origins and how it unfolded,” says self. “the fact that the person can contemplate that and weigh it is a testament that they survived. and that’s the most important thing, that they survived to have that conversation at another time.”

self says covenant’s cradle has made a difference in that at least two babies lived to have that option, and in that sense it’s a success. still, he says if it was never used again, that would mean the people at risk are getting the help they need, and that’s its ultimate goal.

“we think [first] about the newborn, but what about that person carrying that baby who may be abandoned by society?” he wonders. “we don’t always know, or we may never know, what might lead to that. abandonment has many faces, and it’s not just a newborn’s in this case.”

robin roberts is a vancouver-based writer.

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robin roberts

'angel cradles' offer safe option for mothers who are unable to keep their babies

about a dozen babies are born and left at st. paul's hospital in vancouver for adoption every year, while others are abandoned in unsafe environments which often leads to tragedy.

“foundling wheels” were for abandoned babies

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‘cradles’ across canada

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'angel cradles' offer safe option for mothers who are unable to keep their babies

about a dozen babies are born and left at st. paul's hospital in vancouver for adoption every year, while others are abandoned in unsafe environments which often leads to tragedy.

“foundling wheels” were for abandoned babies

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