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On March 29, 2021, at 4:30 pm, a healthy newborn was placed in the baby window at the Lindenhof Hospital in Berne. The little girl, weighing 2838 g and being 50 cm long, had been born a few days earlier and was completely healthy. Her umbilical cord had been cut correctly. Her mother took the «Letter to the mother” with her. The baby remains in the hospital for a while for further medical clarifications. The Bernese Child and Adult Protection Authority was informed immediately. All the institutions involved in the baby window service attach great importance to ensuring that the privacy of the baby and the mother is protected.

The baby window enables mothers in extreme emergency situations to anonymously hand over their child to safe medical care. This is intended to prevent child abandonment and infanticide, which have occurred time and again in the past. The baby window in Berne was set up by the Lindenhof Hospital and the charitable foundation Swiss Aid for Mother and Child (SAMC-Foundation.ch).

The mother and father of the child have the right to reclaim the child until the adoption is completed. The child is returned to the mother or father, if the motherhood or fatherhood could be established beyond doubt and the conditions for the admission of the child are met. Adoption is only possible after one year of care and upbringing by adoptive parents.