Third Baby Box To Be Installed In Indiana, First In Central Part Of State

Indiana’s third “baby box” will soon be installed in a small Marion County township fire station.  The state’s Safe Haven law – allowing women to give up a baby at hospitals – has been around for nearly two decades.  But the baby boxes open at 24-hour staffed Hoosier fire stations were only approved recently.

Monica Kelsey is a firefighter and founder of Safe Haven Baby Box. She says the option is safe, because the box is connected to emergency services and two 911 calls are triggered when the box is used to surrender a baby.  She says some women need this anonymous option.

“This happened in Indianapolis a few years ago at one of the hospitals, there was a baby found at the door of the ER, why didn’t this woman walk in, why didn’t she had the baby over?” Kelsey says. “It’s pretty clear she wanted to remain anonymous.”

Kelsey says the box will be visible from the Decatur Township station and will help increase awareness.

Critics of the law argue it creates almost no safety regulations for the boxes.

The cost of the box, about $10,000, was provided by He Knows Your Name ministry.

There are two other baby boxes in Indiana, both in firehouses – one in La Porte County and one in Allen County.  Two infants have been surrendered in these Indiana boxes since they were installed.