During a Wednesday edition of Mobile radio's FM Talk 106.5, State Rep. Donna Givens (R-Loxley) discussed the installation of several Safe Haven Baby Boxes across her district in Baldwin County, while also explaining the anonymous process of handing a child over as provided for by the state's Safe Haven Law.
Givens, who helped change the law to include a drop-off period of up to 45 days, told "The Jeff Poor Show" that multiple local fire departments have or are planning to install the baby boxes.
"At first, we had some municipalities that did not want to get involved, and now you see that changing," said Givens. "The city of Daphne has, of course, done a baby box. The city of Spanish Fort is working on theirs, and the city of Foley is working on theirs. So we will end up with three in Baldwin County."
"And it started out going to be the 10 largest cities. Of course, there's not one of those in Baldwin County, but Daphne stepped up to the plate," she noted. "Spanish Fort and Foley. Foley's been working on theirs for a while. I look for an announcement fairly soon with Foley. Foley reached out to me first. The Foley fire chief wanted to do that, and I was just so pleased to see that kind of response. So Baldwin County will have three. Mobile has two. They're working on their third. I just look for it to continue to grow, because there have been so many positive results with this bill."
According to Givens, fire departments do not keep any records of mothers or individuals who drop babies off, and personnel at fire stations are immediately notified when a baby is placed in one of the boxes.
"You have up to 45 days. This helps a young mother who wants to take the baby home and do the right thing, and for whatever reason, she sees she can't take care of the baby like she wants the baby to be loved and cared for, so she makes this ultimate sacrifice by taking the baby to a fire station," Givens explained. "They do not know who the mother is or who dropped the baby off. It can be someone besides the mother, and you have up to 45 days to do it. No questions asked, no nothing. They're just glad that a life was saved. Once you lay the baby in that box, it's like an acrylic crib, and it's heated and cooled. When they lay the baby in that box, immediately, a buzzer goes off. Within seconds, trained personnel have picked up the baby."
The lawmaker cited two positive accounts highlighting the value of baby boxes.
"One of the sweetest stories has been about a fireman in Florida and a beautiful, big-cheeked, red-haired, little baby," Givens said. "He and his wife had been trying to adopt, and he said, when he saw that baby, he knew that was their baby, and they ended up adopting the boy. Another sweet story, when I went to Prattville for their grand opening of the box and the ribbon cutting, one of the firemen looked at me, and he said, "The first baby is mine."
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