Lucas County now has a legal and loving option for parents who cannot care for their babies — one that is preferable to past, harsher forms of abandonment.

A Baby Box is a safety device provided for under the state’s Safe Haven Law and legally permits a mother in crisis to safely, securely, and anonymously surrender her newborn.

“This box is now available for women in this community and beyond. This box offers no shame, no blame, and no names,” said Monica Kelsey, founder of Safe Haven Baby Box.

Ohio’s 13th Safe Haven Baby Box was welcomed to the Springfield Township’s Station 51 Fire Department Friday at 802 S. McCord Road in Holland.

“After six abandoned babies last year in the state of Ohio this year, we're going to change that — one box at a time,” Ms. Kelsey said. “And it starts here today in Lucas County.”

Safe Haven Baby Boxes are meant to be a last-resort option for women in crisis who want to remain anonymous.

“It's a big undertaking, and I think all the moms that are going to be using this box and all the babies that are potentially going to be placed in this box definitely get some support,” said Shelbie Flegal, a firefighter and paramedic at the station.

“It's always best to hand a baby to somebody, but if your anonymity is important, and you don't feel like you can do that — that's the goal of a Safe Haven Box — to have an anonymous option so that you don't feel like your back’s against the wall if you don't feel like you can meet somebody face to face.”

The Baby Box has an exterior door that automatically locks upon placement of a newborn inside and an interior door which allows medical staff to secure the surrendered newborn from inside the designated building, organizers explained.

“Babies we are getting in our boxes are not born in hospitals. We are getting babies with placenta still attached, some of the cords are cut tied with shoestrings so these babies need heat,” Ms. Kelsey said. “We have a pediatrician on our board that recommends that we keep it right about the 80 [degree] mark.

Once a mother walks up to a Safe Haven Baby Box, she just places the baby inside, shuts the door, and walks away, she said.

“There's a series of alarms that go off on the box. Firefighters come and retrieve the baby, place it in an ambulance, and take it to the closest medical facility,” Ms. Kelsey explained.

Following a medical workup to ensure that the baby is healthy, the search begins for adoptive parents through the Department of Child Services.

There are 225 Safe Haven Baby Box locations in the country. According to organizers, Safe Haven Baby Boxes is the only organization that allows for the anonymous surrender of a baby. Forty-three babies have been surrendered in the Baby Boxes.

The initiative to get the Baby Box to Lucas County began in 2018 with a meeting with the prosecutor, Ms. Kelsey recalled.

“It's so interesting because they were trying to be proactive and making sure that no woman throws their infant in a dumpster or trash can or alongside a highway,” she said.

The passion for Safe Haven Baby Boxes was birthed from personal experience as two hours after she was born, Ms. Kelsey was abandoned by her birth mom, who, in 1972, at the age of 17, after being conceived via a brutal rape where her mom was left on the side of the road.

“I stand on the front lines of this movement as one of these kids that wasn't lovingly and safely and legally surrendered by a parent,” she said. “But I was blessed to have been adopted by two amazing parents, as every child deserves to have, and this is my legacy,” she said.

“I am now their voice, and I will forever walk alongside these parents who choose something safe,” Ms. Kelsey said. “And I will always walk alongside these kids to show them their worth.”

Jonathon Ziehr, acting fire chief, said the Baby Box is a long time coming and was thankful that city administrators supported the effort from the beginning.

“Here locally, we are an option desert for this much-needed resource,” he said. “Fifty miles away is not acceptable to have a resource such as this as an alternative for the need.”

“I'm thankful that Shelbie has worked tirelessly on this project over the last four years,” he said.

Pastor Steve Miller of the Maumee Valley Church performed a Baby Box dedication and blessing. In his prayer, he asked that mothers in tough situations who felt hopeless with nowhere to turn would see this as “a safe alternative for them to do the right thing.”

He also prayed that every baby surrendered is connected to parents that will love, nurture and provide for them a good upbringing.

The Safe Haven Baby Boxes organization's primary goal is to raise awareness of the Safe Haven Law and women in crisis can receive counseling and assistance free of charge.

Parents in crisis can call or text 24-hour national hotline at 1-866-99BABY1.

First Published May 3, 2024, 9:01 p.m.