UN criticises Europe's 'baby boxes' Often found in the walls of hospitals the boxes offer a safe place where parents can place an unwanted child, and have becoming increasingly popular in European countries such as the Czech Republic, Germany and Latvia. "Just like medieval times in many countries we see people claiming that baby boxes prevent infanticide there is no evidence for this," Maria Herczog, a member of the UN committee, told the Guardian newspaper. A prominent child psychologist, she argued that the boxes should be replaced with better provision for family planning to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Despite this, the baby-box system retains popularity. A survey in the Czech Republic one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the system from earlier this year found that the majority of the population favoured keeping the country's 47 boxes. The Czechs also rejected an earlier request from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to close their boxes pointing out that a special ministerial commission concluded that the system was in accordance with Czech law and saved lives.