Causes and Solutions to Baby Dumping After Teenage Pregnancies

Our nation, Malaysia has gotten to be an awfully prevalent and top choice spot for dumping, not the normal waste dumping but it is the child dumping. Infant dumping implies the act of tossing the babies at any place without taking care of the babies. Doubtlessly, all of us have listened about fruit season and others, but do you ever listen of child dumping season? This social issue can be appeared on all sort of media such as newspaper and mass media.

This shows clearly that child dumping is truly serious issues that as of now happen in our society and most heartbreaking cases are when the innocent babies are dumped like trash without feelings. According to Noordin, Zakaria, Sawal, Ngah, & Nordin (2012), statistical information from the Headquarters of Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) demonstrated that there were 407 cases of child dumping, for the past five years beginning from 2005 until 7th April 2010. On normal, there are 68 cases each year (1 month= 5.7 babies @ 1 week = 1.

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4 babies) and these cases keep expanding until now. The question that strikes the mind is, ‘Why is this situation is happening in a modern and innovation era that we lived in’? There are various researches done about baby dumping in Malaysia and other countries. Some of the researches are based on perception of public, and youngsters towards baby dumping, enforcement in Malaysia and other countries, and also the solution towards solving this issue. Despite the fact, there is no researches were conducted on the causes that leads the teenage mothers to dump her baby intentionally.

Initially, the cause that leads the teenage mothers to dump her baby intentionally is due to teen pregnancy. According to Termizi, Majid, Tagaranao & Safian (2016), baby hatch is an option for pregnant mothers who may not have the capability or the ability to raise her baby by herself to leave the baby for adoption.However, their point of views are more to establishing ‘baby hatch’ as a method to overcome the baby dumping issues rather than putting focus into causes that leads the teenage mother to dump her baby. Women involved in baby dumping are generally seen as lacking emotional maturity, problem-solving capacities, and satisfactory adapting skills. Attributes the causes of rampant occurrences of baby dumping in Malaysia to undesirable pregnancies, quick urbanization, destitute child rearing control, and peer influence. The lack of public awareness and individuals’ aptitudes together with the continuing decay within the ethical quality of each ethnicity particularly in a developing nation like Malaysia.They are socially confined, have little or no financial independence, are emotionally immature, and came from all ethnicities and varying social foundations. A mother who abandons a baby is nearly certainly traumatized but is unlikely to have long-term mental ailment. Termizi et al.(2014), indicates that, to form awareness of undesirable pregnancy among the group of intrigued, taken after by checking those who are possibly at hazard of having undesirable pregnancy and at last make support programs for the mother and the unwanted newborn child. The researchers are found that it is a way to help unwanted pregnancy to curb baby dumping rather than touch into the cause that lead the teenage to dump her baby.

Besides, family and society rejection also lead the teenage to dump her baby. Termizi et al. (2014) studies found that parents, guardians and instructors ought to have a solid bond with their children. When the communication is good, it would be simple for them to distinguish undesirable pregnancy at an early arrange, thus the statement given was not really involved the cause of baby dumping since the focus was on preventing baby dumping.Although there is some research on causes of baby dumping but the point is not really discussing on the actual cause that lead the teenage to dump her baby initially. In Malaysia, the muslin society believes the act of any open and express sexually-related activities are not as it were a social taboo but is against the ruling and educating of Islam and other ethnic groups also consider express sexually related activities among male and female who are not hitched as social taboos (Sukor, Sawai, Salleh, Halim, Baharuddin, & Sawai, 2013). ‘Therefore, commonly they would be punished with strict rulings or being ostracized from their family members and larger society. With this kind of negative labelling, the women who are commonly becoming the victim of this 'tragic incident' of insolence often engage in denial, delaying and even avoiding to seek effective solutions altogether” (Link & Phelan, 2006, as cited in Sukor et al., 2013, p.48 ). Many women who are victims of any kind of abuse and struggle to make a decent living are usually stigmatized in some way, usually a result of what they have regretfully done such as baby dumping or a result of a baby dumped as a little girl, with no family support and guidance, at a loss of their identity (Termizi, Majid, Tagaranao & Safian, June 2016).

Moreover, lack of knowledge is another cause that leads a teenage to dump her infant. Other studies were also conducted based on the perspective of youngsters on baby dumping issues in Malaysia. Even though these studies literally touching about the causes but the main focus was on students perspective not causes of baby dumping. For an example, Noordin et al. (2012) states students were gotten exceptionally little information about sexual transmitted disease, counting how it may well be maintained a strategic distance from or what to do if disease was suspected. Teaching sex education to the students can deliver additional information and it can decrease the number of unprotected sexual intercut, illicit pregnancy and consequently it can decrease the number of baby dumping. According to Termizi et al. (2016), highlighted the education, mass-media, the familial institution as well as other parties need to work hand in hand for the reason of mindfulness of the deserting of undesirable babies or child dumping as a prevention method. However, there is lack of touches into the causes that lead the teenage to dump her baby. “Wong (2012) proposes that Sexual reproductive health teaching should not only be focused on women who had engaged in premarital sex activities but also integrated in therespective national or ethnic religious education”, ( as cited in Termizi et al., 2016).

In conclusion, baby dumping are happened due to lack of knowledge’s in terms of sexual education, society and family dismissal and adolescent pregnancies that connect with our country’s infant dumping issues.. Immoral act should be separated from an early organize. So, individual (primary role), society and government must stand together to avoid this issue. So that, the religions and educational authorities must play their part organizing country’s programs and collaborate with parents to sustain the proper values within the young. Teenagers must to have a great understanding on unprotected sex so they can anticipate sex before marriage and undesirable pregnancy. They ought to know how to ensure themselves.Parents, government and schools need to work together to teach the children almost the sex instruction so they will not effectively get included within the unprotected sex at the youthful age. Actions should be taken by all the parties to avoid youngsters from making an off-base choice. On the off chance that no one is working on it this will truly leads to a terrible notoriety of our country. If child is educated from little with great esteem, they would not be involved with wrongdoing such as baby dumping.

Works cited

1. Noordin, S. M., Zakaria, N., Sawal, M. H. M., Ngah, W. Z. W., & Nordin, R. (2012). Public perception and attitude towards baby dumping issues in Malaysia. Asian Social Science, 8(15), 15-24.
2. Termizi, M. F., Majid, N. A., Tagaranao, M. J., & Safian, N. (2016). Baby hatch as a solution to baby dumping issue: Malaysia's perspective. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 24(S), 121-136.
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