Man Involuntarily Becomes Father in Crowded Bus

46-year old Konstantin Morgachev noticed a strange young woman who sat next to him in a crowded bus. She was not sober and held a baby wrapped in a men’s shirt. Konstantin was worried that the baby would die from cold.

Photo: Man Involuntarily Becomes Father in Crowded Bus

When the woman exited the bus, Morgachev decided to follow her. He offered her to take her to the nearest maternity house by a cab. She agreed. It turned out that her name was Nastya, she was 25 years old and “suddenly” had a baby 24 hours ago.

In the maternity house, Konstantin decided to stay with the woman and took the baby to a doctor’s exam. The baby turned out to be prematurely born and was less than four pounds. She had to be urgently hospitalized.

While the doctors were examining the baby, the woman disappeared. Konstantin had to take the baby to a hospital himself.

Victoria Ostrometskaya, chief of children’s city hospital of Dnepropetrovsk city said she was surprised to see that the baby was brought in by a strange man.

The doctor said that although the baby girl was in a relatively normal condition, she could have died if she had spent more time riding buses. Now the baby is treated in the ER and is fed through an IV system.

There is no news from the mother. Police are not going to look for her as they are convinced that there is no crime in what she had done.

Konstantin, however, comes to visit the baby girl on a regular basis. The man bought her all necessities and takes care of her as much as he can.

According to statistics, within the last five to six years in Moscow alone the number of social orphans (i.e., orphans with living parents) has increased from 23 to 48 percent. Most often, it is mothers at the age of 15 to 19 years who abandon their children.

It is obvious that abandoned children are a global issue. There are different ways to fight it. In Latvia, for example, a special baby-box was opened where mothers can leave their children anonymously.

The box is a specially equipped space in the intensive care department of the University Children’s Clinical Hospital. An abandoned baby gets into a special crib. After that, the doors are automatically blocked and the baby is isolated from the hazards of the exterior world.

Two minutes later, nurses receive a signal and take the baby for an exam. Later, they contact the officials to place a baby into an orphanage.

The baby-box has a phone number on it where a woman can call and receive physiological or practical support 24/7. This might make her change her mind and not abandon the baby.

Of course, it does not solve the issue of social orphans. But in any case, it is better if a baby is left in a hospital than thrown away to a garbage can, as it often happens.

Kseniya Obraztsova
Pravda.Ru

Read the original in Russian