IZUMISANO, OSAKA PREF. – The city of Izumisano in Osaka Prefecture is seeking to open a "baby hatch" during the current fiscal year through March 2027, allowing parents who are unable to care for their infants to leave them safely and anonymously.
The city is also planning to introduce a system to accept anonymous childbirth, under which only designated hospital staff would have access to the mother's identity.
If implemented, the two initiatives would be the third of their kind in Japan, following similar programs at Jikei Hospital in the city of Kumamoto and at San-ikukai Hospital in Tokyo's Sumida Ward. They would also represent the country's first such effort led by a local government.
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