Activists raise awareness on alarming number of abandoned newborns in Hungary

Activists staged a demonstration outside of a major train station to draw attention to the 300 newborns abandoned annually in maternity wards.

Transcript

00:00Dozens of toy dolls and cribs in the middle of a busy square, it is a rather unusual sight.

00:08The action by NGO SOS Children's Villages draws attention to the 300 babies abandoned

00:14in hospital maternity wards every year in Hungary.

00:18The NGO fears the infants are deprived of parental bonding, skin-to-skin contact and

00:23breastfeeding, crucial elements for their development.

00:2780% of the infants are not abandoned by their mother, because of their living conditions.

00:33There are bad living conditions, in many cases it is about the mother.

00:38Ideally the baby should be integrated to a family as soon as possible, but adoption is

00:43a long process.

00:45Activists place baby dolls on the shoulders of several statues in Budapest to raise awareness

00:50for the importance of the role of foster families.

00:54However, foster parents are generally poorly paid and therefore remain scarce.