DES MOINES, Iowa — A Des Moines hospital will soon be home to Iowa's second Safe Haven Baby Box.
The baby box will open at MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center following brief remarks on Tuesday.
Safe Haven Baby Boxes allow any parent wanting to surrender their child to do so safely and anonymously at any time of day. All the parent has to do is open the door and place the baby into the box, which holds a small, temperature-regulated cradle.
Once an infant is in the box, there is a 60-second delay, allowing the parent to leave the premises. After the delay, the system will send a tone to hospital staff to inform them a baby has been placed there.
Iowa's first baby box was installed at the Fort Dodge Fire Department last year.
Surrendering a child to a baby box falls under the Safe Haven Act. Enacted in 2002, the law originally allowed parents or guardians to leave an infant, aged 90 days or less, at a health care facility without fear of repercussion.
More recently, however, state legislators expanded the Safe Haven Law to include the use of "newborn safety devices" at facilities that are staffed 24 hours a day with first responders.
71 infants have fallen under the state of Iowa's custody as a result of the Safe Haven Act since its enactment over 20 years ago.
According to the Safe Haven Baby Box organization, 50 babies have been safely surrendered via a baby box since 2017. 17 states have at least one baby box.
