Swiss Aid for Mother and Child (SAMC) is a Swiss charity founded in 1998. SAMC provides support and advice to mothers, couples and families in need due to pregnancy or childbirth. SAMC cooperates with other charities and organizations to protect the lives of children. Simultaneously, it manages anonymous consultation centers and supports projects and baby boxes for mothers in need.
In addition, SAMC operates an emergency consultation center. At this center, SAMC offers 24-hour professional advice and relief to anyone in Switzerland. If deemed high-risk, SAMC gives relief directly to mothers and their children to ensure their safety.
Inspired by German baby boxes, SAMC opened Switzerland’s first “Babyfenster” (Literally baby window: The term for “baby box” used by SAMC, which is now the general term for baby box in Switzerland) at a hospital in Einsiedeln in 2001. It aimed to reduce the number of child abandonment by offering a way of relief to mothers in need. It wants to be a symbol of the preciousness of life.
As 30% of the population are foreigners, a baby window information banner has been added to the website of immigrant organizations, which has been translated into 10 languages.
Although there has been some criticism such as “Mothers have to go through unsafe unattended births.” and “Right to Know One’s Origins”, 92% of the Swiss agree on SAMC approaches. The Swiss Federal Government expressed the view that the baby windows are illegal. However, the government of the Canton of Schwyz, where Einsiedeln is located, strongly supports baby windows as a means to protect lives; thus, it opposed its closing. As a result, SAMC can continue the operation of baby windows, and the lives of 13 babies have been saved so far. Currently, there are eight baby windows in Switzerland, six of which were established by the SAMC Foundation, which took in 21 babies in total.
※This video is excerpted from THE 14th ASIAN CONGRESS OF HEALTH PROMOTION IN KUMAMOTO, JAPAN.
| Speaker | ：Dominik Müggler |
|---|---|
| Event | ：THE 14th ASIAN CONGRESS OF HEALTH PROMOTION IN KUMAMOTO, JAPAN |
| Date | ：April 15, 2018 |
