After being installed mid-January, a new Safe Haven Baby Box at the Madison Fire Department in Alabama has been used for the second time to save the life of a child.
The Safe Haven Baby Box allows a mother to safely, legally, and anonymously surrender her child at a safe location. Alabama expanded its safe haven laws last summer to allow babies to be legally surrendered until they are 45 days old, leading to the installation of this box, as well as plans for more to be installed in several other cities in Alabama.
The nonprofit Kids to Love was behind the expansion of the state's Safe Haven laws. The Founder and CEO of Kids to Love, Lee Marshall, told WAFF News,
We knew there was a need for these boxes in Alabama. This mother made a difficult and courageous decision when she placed her child in Madison's Safe Haven Baby Box. We are thankful it was there for her when she needed it.
The box was first used to surrender a baby girl just 12 days after being installed last month.
After the first baby was surrendered, Marshall said of the box,
More Alabama cities are going through the process of installing baby boxes, and the fact that this one was used less than two weeks after opening tells us we need more of them ready for mothers across the state as soon as possible, We have seen the tragic results of women not knowing what else to do with a child they aren't ready to raise, and we never want to see it happen again.
The baby that was just left in the box was immediately taken to the hospital and will be placed with a waiting adoptive family!
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