Press conference by the social welfare corporation that operates San-ikukai Hospital, July 2, Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building.
このページを で読む
San-ikukai Hospital in Tokyo operates both a baby hatch where parents can anonymously leave infants they are unable to raise and a confidential birth system that allows women to give birth without publicly revealing their identities.
On July 2, it announced that 20 babies were left at the baby hatch and seven confidential births took place during fiscal 2025.
According to the hospital and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, all 20 infants left at the baby hatch were a few days old, and none showed signs of abuse.
The parents' places of residence were identified as Tokyo in three cases and elsewhere in the Kanto region in four cases. There was one case each from the Chubu and Kansai regions, while the remaining 11 cases could not be determined.
Confidential Birth Cases
The confidential birth system aims to prevent dangerous solitary births outside medical care that pose risks to both mother and child.
During fiscal 2025, the hospital accepted seven pregnant women ranging in age from their teens to their 40s under the system, working in coordination with the Tokyo metropolitan government and child consultation centers.
Hospital director Hitoshi Kato told a press conference that countries where baby hatches and confidential birth systems have been institutionalized have seen sharp declines in newborn killings and other forms of infant abandonment.
"It is also important to examine the circumstances that leave pregnant women feeling they have no choice but to use these systems," he said, stressing the need for closer cooperation with the national and metropolitan governments.
Corporation with Municipal Governments
San-ikukai Hospital launched its baby hatch, named the "Baby Basket," on March 31 last year alongside its confidential birth program. It became Japan's second medical institution to offer both services after Jikei Hospital in Kumamoto.
The hospital's operator has established an independent oversight committee, including lawyers, to review the program. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is also working with Sumida City, where the hospital is located, to arrange foster care and complete birth registration procedures.
Kumamoto's Jikei Hospital introduced its confidential birth system in 2021, drawing on examples from Germany. Izumisano City in Osaka Prefecture is also preparing to introduce the program.
Calls for Financial Support
In June, a team from the Liberal Democratic Party released a report on confidential births, noting that the system currently relies on the goodwill of individual medical institutions, which often shoulder the costs themselves, placing a heavy burden on participating hospitals.
The team called on the government to provide financial support for medical institutions and to consider establishing a public agency responsible for the strict, long-term management of information relating to a child's origins.
Author: The Sankei Shimbun
このページを で読む
