Alberta Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky said he prefers a safe place for both mother and child over the drop-off model exemplified in the Angel's Cradle, seen here near the emergency room entrance to Vancouver's St. Paul's Hospital. (Steve Lus/CBC)

Alberta's health minister says he'd consider providing a safe place for new mothers to go if they're considering abandoning their babies.

Gene Zwozdesky was asked if he would support a drop-off point for babies — similar to the one recently installed at a Vancouver hospital — but he wouldn't go that far.

Zwozdesky said he likes the idea of having a safe place for both mother and child.

"It would be a comforting thing, I think, to look at having a place for those young mothers to go that would be like a safe house situation," Zwozdesky said. "I haven't seen that in action just anywhere yet. But I'm open to the suggestion."

A baby was found abandoned in a garbage bag inside of a dumpster in Calgary on Tuesday. The mother is undergoing a psychological exam.

"I think when young women find it necessary to abandon their newly born child, they frequently don't know where to go," said Zwozdesky. "It's a question of education and awareness. And perhaps it behooves us to provide that sooner than later."

St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver opened a so-called Angel's Cradle earlier this year.

Mothers can leave their babies in a bassinet in a private area just off the emergency room.

Hospital staff members are alerted with an alarm 30 seconds after the mother leaves.

The drop-off facility received its first baby, a two-day-old, in September.