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.