SEYMOUR, IN (WLKY/CNN/WBTW) – A newborn was just one hour old when she was placed in a safe haven box in Indiana.
Firefighters removed her from the temperature controlled box within 60 seconds.
Just an hour after she came into the world, a baby girl was left inside the Safe Haven Baby Box at Seymour Fire Station Three.
“That’s got to be one of the most selfless acts a mother can do,” said Monica Kelsey, founder of Safe Haven Baby Boxes.
Just seconds after the infant was placed in the baby box, firefighters took her out and began giving her medical care.
She’s the first child left in Seymour’s Safe Haven Baby Box since it was installed in june.
Across Indiana – five infants have been placed in the boxes over the last two years.
The box gives parents a way to anonymously surrender their baby – no questions asked.
“Our baby box is a last resort option for moms. We want them to choose a parenting plan. We want them to choose an adoption plan. But if they can’t do those, we don’t want a baby in a dumpster,” Kelsey said.
It was 19-year-old Hunter Wart who raised the $10,000 needed to install the baby box.
He mowed lawns and scrapped metal for more than a year.
“I was just excited that it had been used and had the mother surrendered her child safely,” Wart said.
Kelsey is working to spread the word about the boxes to expectant mothers in crisis.
Last October, all of the baby box signage and literature was translated into Spanish after a newborn Hispanic girl was found inside a plastic bag near a wooded area just a mile from the Seymour Fire Station.
Luckily, that baby was unhurt.
“There are a lot of Spanish speaking friends in our community here that don’t speak English,” Kelsey said.
Kelsey is working to bring baby boxes to more communities, but today, she’s grateful this one was already here.
“Today is a good day. This little girl’s life is going to go on,” said Kelsey.
The newborn will be turned over to child protective services.
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