Izumisano in Western Japan Aims to Launch Baby Hatch

   Osaka, May 30 (Jiji Press)--The city of Izumisano in the western Japan prefecture of Osaka has decided to introduce a baby hatch system in cooperation with a local medical institution.
   The city government aims to start operating the system in fiscal 2026 to allow parents to drop off their babies anonymously if they have difficulties raising them.
   If the plan is realized, it will the third such system in Japan and the first municipality-led case in the country, according to the city.
   The city government will also consider accepting so-called confidential births, in which mothers disclose their identities only to some hospital workers.
   The first baby hatch system in Japan was launched by Jikei Hospital in the southwestern city of Kumamoto in May 2007. The hospital's baby hatch had accepted 193 newborns as of the end of March this year.

(2025/05/30-20:29)