boarder baby

noun

1. an infant or young child who is abandoned or orphaned and left in a hospital for lack of a foster home.

Word History and Origins

Origin of boarder baby¹

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

In the 1980s and ‘90s, it led to a “boarder baby” crisis, with drug-addicted mothers and fathers turning their backs on babies after birth in a hospital or clinic.

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General Hospital was instrumental in opening the boarder baby nursery, where volunteers could come in to hold the infants.

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