KUALA LUMPUR - An NGO in Malaysia has opened the country's first "baby hatch" for rescuing unwanted newborns, reports said on Sunday, as authorities battle increasing cases of abandoned babies.

Modelled on similar services in Germany, Pakistan and Japan, the NGO says the facility will allow mothers to leave their babies anonymously at its premises in Petaling Jaya, in Malaysia's central Selangor state.

The hatch has a small door which opens to an incubator bed on which a mother can place her baby. Once the door is closed an alarm bell will alert the NGO's staff to the baby's presence, after the mother has left.