NEW: First-in-area Safe Haven Baby Box installed at Mobile hospital

Saving babies in Mobile County just got a little bit easier.

The area’s first-ever Safe Haven Baby Box, a climate-controlled way to drop off babies that parents cannot care for, was recently installed at USA Children’s and Women’s Hospital in Mobile—and we have the details.

What is a Safe Haven Baby Box?

Started by Monica Kelsey, a woman who was adopted after being abandoned as an infant, Safe Haven Baby Boxes (SHBB) offer parents a place to surrender a baby they cannot care for.

The boxes are an expansion of Safe Haven laws, also sometimes called Baby Moses laws, which allow parents to legally and anonymously surrender an unwanted baby to a fire station, hospital, sheriff’s office, or any other first responder’s office. These laws were started in 1999, and by 2008 were in every U.S. state.

The Safe Haven Baby Boxes offer an extra layer of protection for the child being surrendered. The boxes are climate-controlled and feature an alarming system that lets first responders know there’s a child for them to rescue.

First one in the Mobile area

The first SHBB in the Mobile area was recently installed at USA Health Children’s and Women’s Hospital. The installation comes after a 2023 expansion on Alabama’s Safe Haven law, which required all sites with 24-hour emergency personnel to have a baby box of some sort.

The box was debuted on September 5, 2024. It’s on the north side of the hospital’s ambulance entry behind the Pediatric Emergency Center.

“We feel incredibly honored to have been selected as a spot for a Safe Haven Baby Box. Now those in crisis in our community will have a safe and anonymous option to help give babies a chance at life.”

Debbie Browning, MSN, RN, CEO of USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital

USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital is located at 1700 Center St, Mobile, AL 36604.

Want more like this in your inbox? Subscribe to our FREE newsletter.