Ohio Sees First Safe Haven Baby Box Infant Surrender

A newborn baby girl was surrendered to a Safe Haven Baby Box in Lebanon, Ohio, officials announced.

The child was surrendered to a baby box at Fire Station 41, the Lebanon Division of Police announced last week. The surrender is the first in the state, according to the founder of Safe Haven Baby Boxes Monica Kelsey.

“I want to tell this mother thank you. Thank you for keeping your child safe and thank you for trusting the Lebanon Fire Department and Safe Haven Baby Boxes to take it from here,” Kelsey shared in a statement to the local news station WLWT5.

Police said crews responded upon hearing an alarm from the station’s Safe Haven Baby Box on Dec. 2. First responders quickly retrieved the baby girl and the Lebanon Fire Department transported her to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

“After the infant is evaluated at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, she will be placed in a foster to adopt program, which is different than foster care. Kelsey said babies placed in the program are typically adopted quickly,” according to the report. 

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

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

In Ohio, unharmed infants up to 30 days old may be legally surrendered to baby boxes, hospitals, fire stations, police stations, and EMS providers, according to the organization. The Lebanon baby box opened in 2023, and there are several other baby boxes located across the state.