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Published on August 26, 2007

Young mothers abandon children after delivery at the hospital or leave them there after giving birth elsewhere, it said.

Officials now quiz young pregnant women closely.

The Kaen Thong Home for Children also revealed that the incidence of abandoned children was on the rise. Most mothers abandoning children at the home are young and attending school or university.

Many claim on admission that parents will arrive shortly, hospital senior doctor Sirijit Wassanawat said.

"Some young mothers abandon their babies immediately after delivery, and others try to leave babies later after they have been discharged.

"We have to keep an eye out for these girls by installing closed-circuit television cameras around the hospital," the doctor said.

Muang district policeman Lieutenant Lansak Kleebnoi said abandonment was a crime and carried a three-year jail sentence and/or a Bt6,000 fine. The officer is investigating the case of a child abandoned at the district's Fairy Plaza shopping centre.

Kaen Thong Home welfare department chief Rattana Sarasawek said it had admitted 19 children last year and 11 this year. Most were newborns, but some were as old as six.

"We try to place abandoned children with local or foreign foster parents, and this year 53 have found new families," Rattana said.