HCM City’s Gia Định People’s Hospital is calling for donors to help them take care of babies abandoned by their mothers. – Photo dantri.vn

HCM CITY – HCM City’s Gia Định People’s Hospital is struggling with taking care of newborns left behind by their mothers, and is calling for donors to raise funds for milk and diapers.

The hospital is currently taking care of three babies who were abandoned at birth.

Nguyễn Trần Thị Huyền Dung, head of the hospital’s department of pathology for newborns, told Dân Trí Newspaper that whenever they tried to contact the parents of abandoned newborns, “they kept saying that they are under lockdown and are struggling, and will pick them up in the upcoming days.”

“Some of them have promised us that six times, but they still have not shown up."

One of the babies, named “Bắp” by the hospital, was born around five months ago. The mother sneaked out of the hospital after giving birth while medical staff were working on the paperwork.

The hospital later found out that the mother and father were unemployed due to the pandemic and were struggling.

Another baby was also left behind by their mother, who did not leave any personal contact details, so the hospital was taking care of the baby and hoped that their parents or relatives would come and pick them up, Dung said.

So far the hospital has received 10 babies who were abandoned by their mothers at birth this year. 

Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Uyển, a nurse at the department, said that while treatment fees for ill newborns were covered by insurance, the hospital had to pay for milk and diapers for the abandoned babies. Some doctors and nurses even used their own money to buy clothes and toys for them.

Caring for a healthy baby costs the hospital VNĐ7 million (US$307.67) per baby per month, and the hospital sometimes has had to take care of newborns for many months, according to the hospital.

It is not clear when the three babies can be admitted to facilities for disadvantaged children, meaning that expenses for looking after them will continue to rise, draining its funding.

The hospital has been calling for donors to raise cash or milk and diapers. Some locals even expressed wishes to adopt an abandoned child.

Other hospitals in HCM City are seeing this similar issue. On September 11, Dr Nguyễn Cát Phương Vũ from the HCM City Paediatric Hospital said that two babies were born and abandoned by their mothers at a hospital in Bình Thạnh District.

The two babies eventually got COVID-19 and had to be transferred to the paediatric hospital’s Field Hospital No. 4, where they were looked after by medical staff and volunteers, Vũ said.

Meanwhile, Hùng Vương Hospital has received dozens of newborns abandoned by their mothers this year, mostly due to birth defects and serious health conditions. – VNS