Infant Surrendered to Safe Haven Baby Box in Alabama

A baby was surrendered earlier this month to a Safe Haven Baby Box at the Muscle Shoals Fire Department in Alabama, Muscle Shoals Fire Chief John Hyde said. 

The baby box was installed in October of 2024 at Muscle Shoals Fire Station 4, which is located on Old Highway 20, WHNT reported. Authorities did not release any further details. 

According to Safe Haven Baby Boxes, five babies have been surrendered to baby boxes in Alabama since January of 2024. The Muscle Shoals baby box is the 10th baby box to be installed in Alabama.

“On her hardest day, this mother trusted our program to protect her and her infant!” the organization said in a post to Facebook. 

Baby boxes were created to deter parents from abandoning their newborns in unsafe conditions, potentially leaving them to die. Baby boxes are temperature-controlled incubators often built into exterior walls of fire stations, police stations, and hospitals, and can be accessed from inside. At-risk mothers can safely and legally place their newborns inside. Once the baby is inside the baby box, the outside door locks, and the mother has time to leave before an alarm goes off to alert first responders or hospital staff to the child’s presence.

The baby is then quickly removed and sent to a hospital for a wellness check. From there, the baby is usually placed into state custody and is often quickly adopted.

In Alabama, infants up to 45 days old can be surrendered legally to hospitals, fire stations, and baby boxes, according to the organization.

Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.