A safe haven for abandoned children has been established in North China's Hebei Province. The province's initiative has attracted wide public attention, as critics fear it will simply encourage more parents to abandon their children.

A safe haven for abandoned children has been established in North China’s Hebei Province.

An unassuming building, it just stands there, quietly waiting for the children to arrive. Shijiazhuang Social Welfare Institute built this safe haven for abandoned children last June.

To maintain an appropriate environment for new-borns, a 55, 000 yuan infant incubator and exhaust fan have been installed. The staff check in every two hours, but most of the babies arrive late at night or early in the morning.

Han Jinong, head of the institute, has been under heavy pressure. Critics say a place like this will only encourage more parents to abandon their children. But he remains undeterred and is planning more upgrades in the future.

Han Jinong, director of Shijiazhuang Social Welfare Institute, said, "For the next step we are planning to add some modern technology, like automatic doors and infrared sensors, so that our staff will be informed right away when a baby arrives."

Most of the children found inside the stall are new borns with birth defects or incurable diseases. So far, as many as thirty infants have been dropped-off here, 22 have survived. Shi Tongtao was found covered by a pink blanket inside the incubator last November. She is albino and was given the name "Peach." She is over one year old now and has started to put on weight.

Liu Luying, deputy director of Children Welfare Center, said, "She was in very poor condition when we found her. She couldn't eat anything; we have to keep feeding her every ten to twenty minutes. Normally we will let doctors check them first to see if they had any infectious disease or other illness, then we start working on improving their health condition."

Shi Tongtao is lucky in some ways. She may well have been found in the corner of an alley or on a park bench.

While the safe haven has stirred controversy, it has also brought more public attention to a serious issue. And perhaps the most important question is: what more can be done to prevent these children from being abandoned in the first place?

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