Abandoned babies would have a better chance of survival if infant incubators were set up in Chinese cities. The proposal is being pushed forward by social welfare organizations to save children.

The first such "safety booth" was set up in Shijiazhuang City, north China's Hebei Province, three years ago.

South China's boom town of Shenzhen announced this week that it has applied to Guangdong Provincial government to pilot a safety booth next year.

The plan, however, has triggered debate on the Internet. Those opposed to the idea say it will indulge irresponsible parents to give away their unwanted child.

A netizen named Maomaogege said on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter-style microblog service, that the booth is a bill paid for by the government for immoral parents.

In response, Tang Rongsheng, head of Shenzhen Social Welfare Center, said the booth would improve the survival chances of an abandoned child.

According to the application, the booth will be a 10-square-meter steel structure with an infant incubator, a time-delay alarm button and a LED sign.

The booth is expected to be located 200 meters away from a welfare house and 20 meters from the nearest hospital.

He said there are no cameras. A parent can put the baby down, press the alarm button and leave without being traced. Welfare staff would pick up the baby minutes later.

"The life of an infant is fragile. Fifteen to 20 minutes after an infant is abandoned is the prime time to save its life," said Tang. "The shelter embodies the idea of prioritizing the interest of the child."

Tang is not worried that a safety booth could lead to a rising number of abandoned children.

He said as social morality improves, people have a stronger sense of responsibility. The welfare house has taken in close to 100 abandoned children so far this year. It was 200 in 2009.

While there is debate in Shenzhen, residents and welfare workers in northwest China's city of Yinchuan and south China's city of Guangzhou are calling for a safety booth. A baby was found dead at the foot of a bridgehead in Yinchuan on Oct. 24.

The premature baby boy died before he was sent by police to hospital.

Li Tao, a welfare worker in Yinchuan, said in his community about 100 babies have been found abandoned over the past decade.

In May, a newborn was dumped by an unmarried mother in an apartment building toilet in Jinhua City, east China's Zhejiang Province. The baby was wedged in a sewer pipe. Its crying alerted neighbors who called the police. Firefighters saved the baby.

In the same city, a homeless woman claimed she had rescued 30 babies abandoned in rubbish bins over the years.

China has 800,000 to 1.2 million babies born with congenital defects every year. Most abandoned infants have congenital problems.

"Hefty medical costs mean a family can fall into poverty," said Han Jinhong, head of the Shijiazhuang Welfare House.

She said there were many opinions when the organization set up China's first safety booth in June 2011.

Han said babies are usually abandoned at night. Without shelter, even a healthy baby would either die in the cold or get bitten by insects or wild animals.

She said the booth has become a sanctuary. It takes two-thirds of the number of abandoned children found in the city.

"The local civil affairs department has found fewer abandoned infants in front of hospitals and railway stations. Most of the babies, although having congenital diseases, did not sustain injuries, fever or contract pneumonia, thanks to the shelter's protection," said Han.

She does not want to get involved in discussions about similar booths in other cities, as there is still opposition in the country.

But she supports such booths.

"If we can not fundamentally eradicate the behaviors of abandoning infants, we can at least do our utmost to save these young lives. Simply abusing the parents can not do that," she said.

Zheng Shuping, a nurse in the welfare house, said many parents are desperate.

She found a note left in the clothes of a baby boy that she collected from the booth last year. The boy's parents wrote that they could not afford to bring up a child with Down syndrome. They gave the boy the nickname Niannian, which means "missing."

Gao Caixia, a doctor with the welfare house, said before the booth was set up, police were called when a child was found. The police would try to reach the baby's parents first. Only when efforts failed would they send the baby to a local welfare house.

"The whole procedure was a delay, especially if the baby needed medical treatment," said the doctor.