- Baby savers offer a safe and anonymous alternative to unsafe abandonment in fields, toilets, and rubbish dumps.
- Mothers who use them face poverty, violence, rejection, and stigma, with few supportive services available.
- After placement, babies follow a 60-day legal care process while a court battle challenges the legality of the devices.
Each year, an estimated 3 500 babies are abandoned across South Africa, many left in open fields, public toilets, rubbish dumps or parks where survival is unlikely. Baby saver devices were created to stop this crisis by offering mothers an anonymous, safe way to relinquish their newborns without risking their lives.
The mothers who use or consider using baby savers often do so at the intersection of desperation and isolation. Some are trapped in poverty, others became pregnant through rape or forced prostitution, and some are rejected by their families or abandoned by the baby’s father. Many are survivors of gender-based violence or are battling drug or alcohol addiction.
The same pressures that drive them toward abandonment also prevent them from seeking help earlier. Access to pregnancy counselling centres is limited, and when these mothers approach clinics, hospitals or social workers, they are often told to “go parent”, a response that closes the door on alternatives.
How the baby saver process works
When a baby is placed in a baby saver, an alarm immediately alerts careworkers. They remove the baby within moments and take them for medical checks, including emergency hospital care if needed. At the same time, a social worker is contacted to begin the legal protection process.
The social worker applies to the children’s court for an order placing the baby in a Child and Youth Care Centre, temporary safe care, or foster care. A 60-day waiting period then follows, during which the baby’s biological family can come forward to reclaim the child.
If no one does, the baby is declared legally adoptable and placed under the care of a registered child protection organisation, which oversees the adoption process through the courts. This system ensures that every child left in a saver moves swiftly from crisis to care and, ultimately, to a permanent family if reunification is not possible.
Anonymity, safety and safeguards
Anonymity is central to why baby savers work. “Without this anonymity, mothers would fear prosecution,” explains Dr Whitney Rosenberg, co-founder of Baby Savers SA. Each child left in a saver is recorded and reported to the Department of Social Development, and a child protection organisation is immediately contacted to take over the case. This documentation process acts as a safeguard against trafficking while protecting the mother’s identity and the baby’s right to safety and care.
Far from being lawless drop-off points, baby savers are part of a carefully controlled system where every baby’s arrival triggers medical, legal, and social protections designed to preserve life and dignity.
Court battle casts uncertainty over the system
Despite these safeguards, baby savers are operating under legal uncertainty. In 2023, the Department of Social Development issued a directive declaring baby saver devices unlawful, arguing that they undermine children’s right to a name, culture, and identity and erode parental responsibility.
Baby Savers SA and Door of Hope challenged the directive in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, arguing that baby savers save lives that would otherwise be lost. In August 2025, the court extended an interim order protecting their operations until 26 January 2026. This means they may continue to operate without fear of prosecution or having the babies in their care removed while the court considers the main case.
The case highlights a deep tension that, while the government raises concerns about consent and heritage, child protection groups stress the right to life. “Without this option, many of these babies would simply not survive,” says Rosenberg.
Holding the line while the law decides
For now, the interim ruling gives a measure of stability to a fragile system. Every baby placed in a saver will still be met by careworkers, shielded by court orders, and given a chance at a permanent home, even as the legal fate of the devices themselves hangs in the balance. Behind each quiet closing hatch lies a second chance at life, made possible by a network of care workers and social workers working under the shadow of a courtroom.
Conviction.co.za
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