Enfield based charity 'Baby i' is aiming to provide abandoned babies with the support and assistance they need in giving them a 'new home' working alongside the police and healthcare staff to provide services for babies given up at birth.
Warda Rose Eidarus, Founder of Baby i Charity was inspired to start the organisation after her trip to a developing village in Yemen, where she met a lady who had given her life to support an abandoned baby, who she had found, rapped up in a bag near a bin.
Eidarus said in a statement that, " The fact that a woman who was not financially well off and living in poverty wanted to bring the abandoned baby home to her husband and kids and offer support for this baby by raising the child as her own really inspired me to start Baby i. When I returned back to the UK I saw the need for more services for abandoned babies mainly due to the number of abandoned cases that were on the rise".
There are approximately 65 babies that are abandoned in the UK every year and tragically the number is still rising. Baby i Charity is appealing for donations to start on various projects to help decrease and prevent the rates of abandoned babies and offer assistance and funding to help abandoned babies not just in the UK but all over the world.
By raising awareness about the cases of abandoned babies and the reasons behind child abandonment Baby i Charity hopes to create more methods to financially support services which give the abandoned baby a better life and a stable home.
Baby i Charity was established in October 2010 and since then it has been offering courses and events to gather donations for abandoned babies in addition to providing services to promote bonding between mothers and their babies. The charity is planning to run innovative projects involving the local community such as schools, police and the NHS to provide a direct service after an abandoned baby is found.
Currently there is no proper legislation in the UK for dealing with abandoned babies as any baby that is found abandoned will be taken by the police and brought to the hospital to be named and cared for by health care professionals until they find a home.
In the UK abandoning a child under the age of 2 years is a criminal offence and any baby that is found abandoned will be taken by specially trained police who have learnt how to deal with such cases. Appeals to the parents are made as sensitively as possible, as they are often in a traumatised state and may need help and assistance.
Often women who had abandoned their babies suffered from mental illnesses or conditions such as post natal depression. Some mothers who have chosen to abandon their babies may have had feelings of inadequacy, be suffering from depression or feel that their baby will have a better economic or social upbringing elsewhere. However victims of abandonment often have to deal with problems with identity, not knowing their real birthday, names or background and this can often leave the child emotionally scarred.
Baby i Charity is appealing for donations from the public and local community in supporting the funds which can give an abandoned baby a new lease of life.
For more information on Baby i Charity and the work they do check out their website on: www.babyicharity.co.uk
This post was originally published on 14/12/2011 and is being re-featured for HuffPost Global Motherhood.