2012: So-called “baby boxes”, spaces where mothers can deposit unwanted infants without fear of detection or prosecution, have sprung up at hospitals in rural Germany and Eastern Europe. 1198: Pope Innocent III orders construction of a ‘foundling wheel’ at a Vatican hospital amidst complaints from local fisherman about the number of infants found drowned in the Tiber River.

2012: So-called “baby boxes”, spaces where mothers can deposit unwanted infants without fear of detection or prosecution, have sprung up at hospitals in rural Germany and Eastern Europe.

1198: Pope Innocent III orders construction of a ‘foundling wheel’ at a Vatican hospital amidst complaints from local fisherman about the number of infants found drowned in the Tiber River.