JEFFERSON COUNTY — Missouri’s first infant rescue box will be available in St. Louis County next month. The box will be located at the Mehlville Fire Protection District Station 2.
“Hopefully this will be the first of many locations where unwanted babies can be brought to receive love and care and a new home with a loving family,” stated State Repetitive Jim Murphy.
Murphy sponsored legislation bill allowing for Safe Haven Baby Boxes, and it passed in 2021. On August 8 the first baby box will be installed at 11:30 a.m. at the Mehlville Fire Protection District.
The baby box is a safety device that helps mothers in dangerous situations. They put their babies in a safe incubator. The children will eventually be put into the foster care program.
The baby box will be put up on an outside wall at some fire stations and hospitals. It will have an outside door that locks automatically when a baby is put inside. A member of the medical staff can retrieve the baby from the inside of the building through an inner door.
The business that made these boxes, Safe Haven Baby Boxes, says that there are 152 active baby boxes in the U.S. and that 32 babies have been safely left in those boxes so far.