Does anyone know what that revolving door that the french used to drop off unwanted babies was called?

Question

this was like in the 16th century i think. at hospitals, if women didnt want babies, they just put them in a little revolving door carousel no questions asked.

nevermind i found it. its called a baby hatch http://www.answers.com/topic/baby-hatch

Answer 1

Baby hatch:

A baby hatch is a place where mothers can bring their babies, usually newborn, and leave them anonymously in a safe place to be found and cared for. This kind of arrangement was common in mediaeval times and in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when the device was known as a foundling wheel. Foundling wheels were taken out of use in the late 1800s but a modern form, the baby hatch, began to be introduced again from 1996 and since 2000 has come into use in many countries, notably in Germany where there are around 80 hatches today.

In German-speaking countries the hatch is known as a Babyklappe (baby hatch or flap) or Babyfenster (baby window); in Italian as Culle per la vita (cradle for life); in Japan as 赤ちゃんポス (baby post box).

The hatches are usually in hospitals or social centres and consist of a door or flap in an outside wall which opens to reveal a soft bed, heated or at least insulated. Sensors in the bed alert carers when a baby has been put in it so that they can come and take care of the child. In Germany, babies are first cared for for eight weeks during which the mother can return and claim her child without any legal repercussions. If this does not happen, after eight weeks the child is put up for adoption.

Answer 2

Check out "Baby Hatch" at Wikipedia. All the information is there.

An interesting question and also an interesting read.

Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Answer 3

if the hatch is anonymous how do people get their babies back?

Answer 4

I think it was called a revolving cradle.

Answer 5

interesting