UNWANTED BABIES

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31663, 26 April 1968, Page 3

UNWANTED BABIES

. (N.Z. Press Association) AUCKLAND, April 23. Auckland maternity hospitals did not have the same problems with long-stay unwanted babies as those encountered in the South Island, inquiries showed. In Auckland the maternity hospitals and the Child Welfare Division work in close co-operation to have such children adopted, or boarded in foster homes. In the National Women’s Hospital, a limit of 21 days is placed on the stay of such infants, after which they are boarded out if they have not already been adopted. The position is described as similar in other hospitals. Representatives of the hospitals and the Child Welfare Division said today that every effort was made to find people who would adopt these children. This was never easy, but sooner or later all were adopted or the mothers decided to keep them. Sometimes the father helped voluntarily or a way was found to compel him to contribute, but such cases were rare. The normal cost to a mother to board out her baby in Auckland was about $6 a week, but she was also required to pay for clothing and such extras as toilet goods. The division said 170 illegitimate children were at present being boarded in Auckland.