EDITORIAL - Abandoned

Why would a mother abandon her baby upon delivery? Many theories have cropped up amid an ongoing search for the woman who delivered a baby boy and left him in a trash bin, still with placenta and umbilical cord, inside the lavatory of a Gulf Air flight from Bahrain. Cleaners at the NAIA found the baby and handed him over to flight attendants. Because of the point of origin of the flight, speculation has focused on the possibility that the mother is an overseas Filipino worker who either does not want her pregnancy known in her own country or does not want the responsibility of raising a child.

Abandonment of newborn infants is not unique in this country, although it’s the first recorded on a plane. But mothers usually leave their babies at the doorsteps of churches or orphanages, believing that those institutions will provide care and even find a foster home for the infants. Yesterday, another newborn baby was found abandoned in a garbage heap in Sta. Cruz, Manila.

Looking on the bright side, the baby on the plane at least was carried to full term and was in good health when discovered. Other women prefer to abort unwanted pregnancies. The Pasig River has become a favorite dumping ground for fetuses. In recent years, fetuses have been dumped in front of churches and, in a celebrated case, in a lavatory at Malacañang.

Women abandon their newborn babies for the same reasons that they terminate unwanted pregnancies: poverty, the inability to care for babies while trying to earn a living, and sometimes, to conceal infidelity. Amid rumors that the mother of the baby found on the plane is an overseas worker, some quarters have cited the case to illustrate the social costs of the Philippine diaspora. The case also highlights the need to increase women’s awareness of their reproductive health and methods of contraception. With awareness, and access to reproductive health facilities, the risks of having an unwanted pregnancy will be reduced, and there will be fewer aborted fetuses or abandoned babies.