Infant Surrendered to Safe Haven Baby Box in Tennessee

( Breitbart )

An infant was surrendered to a Safe Haven Baby Box in Nolensville, Tennessee, which was installed just last month. 

The Safe Haven Baby Boxes organization said the child was recently placed into the device located at the Tri-Star Nolensville ER, WKRN reported. Hospital staff immediately responded to the box and officials are working to place the child with an adoptive family, according to the report. 

“This mother bravely trusted our program to provide hope and safety for her and her infant. We are grateful for her selfless act that was made out of love for her baby,” said Monica Kelsey, founder and CEO of Safe Haven Baby Boxes.

The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS) would not provide the current status of the child to the local news outlet.

Safe Haven Baby Boxes were created to deter parents from abandoning their newborns in unsafe places, potentially leaving them to die. Baby boxes are temperature-controlled incubators, often built into exterior walls of fire stations, police stations, and hospitals, and can be accessed from inside. At-risk mothers can safely and legally place their newborns inside the baby box. Then the outside door locks, and mothers have time to leave before an alarm goes off alerting first responders or hospital staff inside.

The baby is then quickly removed and sent to a hospital for a wellness check. From there, the baby is usually placed into state custody and often quickly adopted.

“Most of these parents that utilize the Safe Haven Baby Boxes have been thinking about this for a long time,” Kelsey said. “This is probably one of the hardest decisions she will ever make, and probably one of the most emotional decisions she will ever make.”

Under Tennessee’s Safe Haven law, unharmed newborns up to 45 days old may be surrendered to baby boxes as well as in person to hospitals, fire stations, EMS providers, and police stations, according to the organization. 

Safe Haven Baby Boxes launched nine years ago in Indiana and has expanded nationwide with at least 425 locations. More than 70 newborns have been surrendered to baby boxes across the United States, according to the organization. Safe Haven Baby Boxes also says it has assisted at least 150 people with safe surrenders to other safe haven locations.

Safe Haven Baby Boxes has a confidential National Safe Haven Hotline, 1-866-99BABY1, that provides free counseling and information about safe surrenders, including face-to-face surrenders.