{"id":302398,"date":"2023-11-28T12:39:32","date_gmt":"2023-11-28T18:39:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=302398"},"modified":"2023-11-27T11:58:58","modified_gmt":"2023-11-27T17:58:58","slug":"newborns-death-prompts-iowas-first-baby-box","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/newborns-death-prompts-iowas-first-baby-box\/","title":{"rendered":"Newborn\u2019s death prompts Iowa\u2019s first Safe Haven Baby Box"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

(Pregnancy Help News<\/a>) The community of Fort Dodge became the first town in Iowa to receive a Safe Haven Baby Box, according to the executive director of the organization that creates and installs these life-saving units.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\u201cThey had had an abandoned infant in their community. As a former firefighter and medic, you don’t want to run on those kinds of calls,\u201d said Monica Kelsey, executive director of\u00a0Safe Haven Baby Boxes<\/a>. \u201cHere we are now with our very first box in Fort Dodge, Iowa.\u201d<\/p>\n

The town, with a population of about 25,000, is located approximately 100 miles northwest of the Iowa capital of Des Moines. A couple in the community was accused of\u00a0killing their newborn<\/a>. The birth mother was\u00a0arrested and pled guilty<\/a>, and the baby\u2019s father\u00a0also pled guilty\u00a0<\/a>to what is described as \u201camended charges.\u201d<\/p>\n

A community\u2019s response<\/h4>\n

After the incident, the community came together in support of having a safe haven box, Kelsey said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey got a committee together and started raising the funds and so it was definitely a community-driven event and process,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The cost to create and install a Safe Haven Baby Box runs about $15,000. Many are installed at fire stations, which is the case for the\u00a0Fort Dodge box<\/a>. Hospitals are also locations for the boxes, and sometimes police stations, she said.<\/p>\n

Kelsey said she and her team have seen an increase in the number of requests for the boxes. The organization doesn\u2019t go looking for locations, but instead, people from communities contact them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don’t go looking for locations, locations actually contact us,\u201d Kelsey said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been abandoned babies for decades in this country, even prior to Roe v. Wade being overturned,\u201d she added. \u201cAbandonments have never decreased. The only time that they’ve really decreased is when we start seeing the success of education and awareness and the last resort option of anonymity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baby boxes allow that anonymity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe boxes call 9-11 on their own; the parent doesn\u2019t have to do anything,\u201d Kelsey\u00a0told\u00a0Pregnancy Help News<\/em><\/a>\u00a0in a previous interview. \u201cIt usually takes two minutes or less for the baby to be found [by fire station or hospital personnel].\u201d<\/p>\n

Safe Haven saves lives<\/h4>\n

Every state has a safe haven law, in which a birth mother or father can leave their child safely at a fire station, hospital, police or sheriff\u2019s department. However, every state law has parameters, and those vary. Kelsey\u2019s organization, and\u00a0others<\/a> like National Safe Haven Alliance, help families and communities understand their respective state\u2019s law.<\/p>\n

Safe haven boxes save lives, Kelsey said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year we had eight. This year we’ve had 15, and we still have two months to go,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Safe Haven Baby Boxes not only saves the lives of babies, but also helps women who feel they are not equipped to be a parent yet, she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver 170 women have been impacted in just the last six years [of Safe Haven Baby Boxes],\u201d Kelsey said.<\/p>\n

Stories about babies found dead or dying in\u00a0garbage dumpsters<\/a>\u00a0are not uncommon in America. Arrests earlier this year\u00a0in Oklahoma<\/a> indicate this horrific practice continues. Safe Haven Baby Boxes reduce those numbers, community by community, state by state, Kelsey said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndiana is a prime example of what baby boxes have done for this country,\u201d she said. \u201cI launched in Indiana \u2026 we were having about two to three abandonments every year \u2013 babies dead in dumpsters and trash cans \u2013 and so we launched in Indiana, where I\u2019m from. We have 109 active baby boxes [there], and we haven’t had a dead infant in our state since we launched baby boxes. We’ve had a record number of surrenders in our boxes in our state, and so we’ve literally turned the tide in just one state alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

200 safe haven boxes by year-end<\/h4>\n

Other states are on Indiana\u2019s heels, she added, including Arkansas and Kentucky, where more boxes are scheduled to be installed. About 200 safe haven boxes will be in communities throughout the country by the end of 2023, Kelsey said.<\/p>\n

She hopes to see boxes in more Iowa communities also.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to be where there’s abandoned babies,\u201d Kelsey said. \u201cWe do know that more babies have been abandoned in Iowa in the last couple of years, and so if we can help those communities in any way to make sure that they don’t have another abandonment, then that’s definitely where we want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

She praised the Fort Dodge fire department employees.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spent two days in Fort Dodge with these guys because I did the training there and then we did the blessing the following day and I’ll tell you; they are some of the best firefighters you will find across this country,\u201d Kelsey said. \u201cThey\u2019re very oiled. They were asking questions. they sincerely wanted to know what they could do to make sure that this didn’t happen again in their community, and so a shout out to the Fort Dodge firefighters because they are some of the best I’ve ever met in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Editor’s Note: This article was published at Pregnancy Help News<\/a> and is reprinted here with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Walgreens<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Pregnancy Help News) The community of Fort Dodge became the first town in Iowa to receive a Safe Haven Baby Box, according to the executive director of the organization that creates and installs these life-saving units. \u201cThey had had an abandoned infant in their community. As a former firefighter and medic, you don’t want to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":478,"featured_media":289456,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[7077,9455],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nNewborn\u2019s death prompts Iowa\u2019s first Safe Haven Baby Box<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The community of Fort Dodge became the first in Iowa to receive a Safe Haven Baby Box, according to the organization's exec director.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/newborns-death-prompts-iowas-first-baby-box\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Newborn\u2019s death prompts Iowa\u2019s first Safe Haven Baby Box\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The community of Fort Dodge became the first in Iowa to receive a Safe Haven Baby Box, according to the organization's exec director.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/newborns-death-prompts-iowas-first-baby-box\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-28T18:39:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-27T17:58:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/safe-haven-baby-boxes.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"611\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gayle Irwin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gayle Irwin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/newborns-death-prompts-iowas-first-baby-box\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/newborns-death-prompts-iowas-first-baby-box\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Gayle Irwin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/e29bb9ddd74f627912276bb7c124415f\"},\"headline\":\"Newborn\u2019s death prompts Iowa\u2019s first Safe Haven Baby Box\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-28T18:39:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-27T17:58:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/newborns-death-prompts-iowas-first-baby-box\/\"},\"wordCount\":869,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Guest Column\",\"Human Interest\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/newborns-death-prompts-iowas-first-baby-box\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/newborns-death-prompts-iowas-first-baby-box\/\",\"name\":\"Newborn\u2019s death prompts Iowa\u2019s first Safe Haven Baby Box\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-28T18:39:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-27T17:58:58+00:00\",\"description\":\"The community of Fort Dodge became the first in Iowa to receive a Safe Haven Baby Box, according to the organization's exec director.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/newborns-death-prompts-iowas-first-baby-box\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/newborns-death-prompts-iowas-first-baby-box\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/newborns-death-prompts-iowas-first-baby-box\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Newborn\u2019s death prompts Iowa\u2019s first Safe Haven Baby Box\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Live Action News\",\"description\":\"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Live Action\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"width\":701,\"height\":710,\"caption\":\"Live Action\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/e29bb9ddd74f627912276bb7c124415f\",\"name\":\"Gayle Irwin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4fa99419924871d6837a14ac3df01f0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4fa99419924871d6837a14ac3df01f0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gayle Irwin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/gail-irwin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Newborn\u2019s death prompts Iowa\u2019s first Safe Haven Baby Box","description":"The community of Fort Dodge became the first in Iowa to receive a Safe Haven Baby Box, according to the organization's exec director.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/newborns-death-prompts-iowas-first-baby-box\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Newborn\u2019s death prompts Iowa\u2019s first Safe Haven Baby Box","og_description":"The community of Fort Dodge became the first in Iowa to receive a Safe Haven Baby Box, according to the organization's exec director.","og_url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/newborns-death-prompts-iowas-first-baby-box\/","og_site_name":"Live Action News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","article_published_time":"2023-11-28T18:39:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-11-27T17:58:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":611,"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/safe-haven-baby-boxes.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Gayle Irwin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@liveaction","twitter_site":"@liveaction","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gayle Irwin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/newborns-death-prompts-iowas-first-baby-box\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/newborns-death-prompts-iowas-first-baby-box\/"},"author":{"name":"Gayle Irwin","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/e29bb9ddd74f627912276bb7c124415f"},"headline":"Newborn\u2019s death prompts Iowa\u2019s first Safe Haven Baby Box","datePublished":"2023-11-28T18:39:32+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-27T17:58:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/newborns-death-prompts-iowas-first-baby-box\/"},"wordCount":869,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Guest Column","Human Interest"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/newborns-death-prompts-iowas-first-baby-box\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/newborns-death-prompts-iowas-first-baby-box\/","name":"Newborn\u2019s death prompts Iowa\u2019s first Safe Haven Baby Box","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-11-28T18:39:32+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-27T17:58:58+00:00","description":"The community of Fort Dodge became the first in Iowa to receive a Safe Haven Baby Box, according to the organization's exec director.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/newborns-death-prompts-iowas-first-baby-box\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/newborns-death-prompts-iowas-first-baby-box\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/newborns-death-prompts-iowas-first-baby-box\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Newborn\u2019s death prompts Iowa\u2019s first Safe Haven Baby Box"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","name":"Live Action News","description":"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization","name":"Live Action","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","width":701,"height":710,"caption":"Live Action"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/e29bb9ddd74f627912276bb7c124415f","name":"Gayle Irwin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4fa99419924871d6837a14ac3df01f0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4fa99419924871d6837a14ac3df01f0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Gayle Irwin"},"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/gail-irwin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302398"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/478"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302398"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":302405,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302398\/revisions\/302405"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/289456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}