A infant was submitted to the sole Safe Haven Baby Box in Florida. It was the first time a baby has been placed within the device since it was installed in 2020.
In a news statement issued on January 5, Ocala Fire Rescue reported “the arrival of the department’s first surrendered newborn.”
First Newborn Surrendered at Ocala Fire Rescue’s Safe Haven Baby Box (OCALA, FL.) Jan. 5, 2023 – In December 2020,…
Posted by Ocala Fire Rescue on Thursday, 5 January 2023
During a news conference held the same day in Ocala, roughly 80 miles northeast of Orlando, Fire Chief Clint Welborn said that the infant had been safely found and transferred to the hospital. The baby will be placed for adoption.
Posted by Pamela Wood Stenzel on Thursday, 5 January 2023
Monica Kelsey, the founder of Safe Haven Baby Boxes, also revealed that this was the 23rd infant lawfully relinquished in one of their boxes. She also contacted the individual who had relinquished the infant.
The first thing they desire to do is confront the parents who properly relinquished this baby. And right now, she is going to talk to her or him personally, she explained. She thanked for bringing her/his child to a location they trusted would look after him or her. And thanked them for doing what they thought was best.
She is sure this was not an easy decision to pick, she said, but she want him/her to know that they’re celebrating as she hope one find peace in knowing that one’s kid is safe, ones child is healthy, and ones child will be placed with a pair of adoptive parents, if it hasn’t already.
So understnad that the process worked, and she wished them to be at peace with their decision, she continued. They did not reveal the newborn’s gender or when he or she was surrendered. During the press conference, Kelsey stated that once the kid is relinquished and the door is locked, it sends “an instantaneous signal” and firemen are contacted.
The average duration for infants in their boxes is somewhere about a minute and a half, she calculated.
Ocala Fire Rescue was the first in the state to introduce a Safe Haven Baby Box in December 2020. The gadget legally allows a woman in difficulty to surrender a newborn who cannot be cared for in a safe, secure, and anonymous manner.
According to the Safe Haven Baby Box website, there are presently 134 active baby boxes in the United States, with the first baby surrendered in 2017, the same year the organization was created. The gadgets are temperature regulated and have an easy-to-retrieve bassinet-style bed within.
They are so proud of this wonderful mom who has lovingly sacrificed their newborn via a Baby Box during the holiday! Kelsey said in a statement. They are extremely grateful that this community was ready for this crisis. They believe this baby will be adored by an adopted family, and they are pleased to be a part of the effort to save newborns from being abandoned.
