The reports are disturbing and the trend affects urban and rural America - a newborn found in a trash bin, a newborn recovered in a lake, a newborn left at an abandoned warehouse. Every day 52 babies are abandoned, according to national law enforcement authorities.
When we hear reports of abandoned newborns who turn up dead or narrowly escape death, questions abound about how these crimes could have been prevented. A recent community-driven outreach program, which relies heavily on hospital resources, is providing compelling solutions.
"There is a Secret Safe Place for Newborns," launched in November 1998, has safely rescued four newborns from reckless abandonment. It is the brainchild of Jodi Brooks, a reporter for WPMI-NBC TV in Mobile, Ala., who grew tired of covering stories of infant deaths that haunted her career in markets like Wisconsin, Tennessee and most recently Mobile. The case that inspired her to take action was a story she reported involving a pregnant teenager in Mobile who drowned her newborn to escape social ridicule. Her mother allegedly aided her in hiding her pregnancy and the newborn's body. Brooks hypothesized that these cases had a common causal thread: the mothers-to-be were ill-equipped to deal with their pregnancies, panicked and were probably unaware of the social services available to them to safely and confidentially relinquish their newborns without fear of prosecution.
To allay this fear, she spearheaded "Secret Safe Place," which allows parents who don't feel capable of taking care of their newborns to drop them off at one of six participating local hospitals without any questions asked. These hospitals contact social services, which finds an appropriate foster home for the infant. The district attorney's office agreed to not prosecute the parents if the baby is left at a hospital within 72 hours of being born.
The program is working. Since its inception in 1998, there have been no reports of abandoned newborns, says Brooks. By contrast, there were 20 infant deaths that occurred in Mobile throughout 1997 and the beginning of 1998 as a result of abandonment.
Program Catches On
The program also is catching on in other states. St. Paul has followed Mobile's lead by launching "A Safe Place for Newborns." Atlanta, Boston and Houston also have expressed an interest in developing similar programs, says Brooks.
The St. Paul program, launched this month, was initiated by the Archdiocese of St. Paul. "A Safe Place for Newborns" relies on the support of three area hospitals, social services and the Dakota County Attorney General's Office. One of the participating hospitals, Fairview Ridges Hospital (FRH), held a press conference on Jan. 6 announcing how the program works. Similar to Mobile's program, Safe Place allows any mother to leave her unharmed newborn, who is up to 72 hours old, at an area hospital without fear of prosecution. The hospitals care for the newborn and contact the Dakota County Social Services, which takes custody of the infant until a home is found.
The program was urgently needed in Minneapolis, says Father Andrew Couzzens, an associate pastor for the Cathedral of St. Paul who helped organize A Safe Place. In 1998 there were 26 abandoned babies in Minneapolis and two months ago a baby was found floating in the river, says Couzzens.
The beauty of the program is that it relies on community resources that are already in place. Hospitals are well positioned to medically care for the immediate needs of a newborn and already have solid relationships with social services. The challenge is educating the public - and particularly those who have chosen to hide their pregnancies - about the kinds of emergency services that are available for newborns, says Couzzens. High school and college students often meet this profile.
The Mobile program is getting the word out through:
- aggressive media relations that target local newspapers, radio and TV stations;
- educational brochures that are distributed in churches, schools, malls and other high-traffic locations that particularly appeal to teens; and
- public service announcements that air locally on youth-oriented stations like MTV and BET.
The St. Paul program is promoting its program similarly by pitching the local media, planning a PSA and billboard campaign and developing educational brochures that target teens. So far the program has not been used but it has captured the attention of local and national media. Locally, the market's four TV stations, two newspapers and three suburban newspapers have provided substantial coverage of the program. Nationally the program generated coverage in USA Today, Reuters and "Good Morning America."
For the most part, the program has received praise and support. But it is stirring concern among those who think that it promotes abandonment and irresponsibility. "This program doesn't encourage criminal behavior, it prevents it," says Couzzens. He continues, "We'd rather see babies live." Brooks, who has also had to field critical comments about the Mobile program, challenges people to define abandonment. "Taking a baby to a hospital where it can receive medical care isn't considered abandonment. [This program] is a safe, responsible alternative for women who are in crisis situations."
(WPMI-TV, Jodi Brooks, 334/602-1500; Archdiocese of St. Paul, Father Andrew Couzzens, 651/228-1767; FRHl, Anne Kettler, 612/892-2031)
Creating A Safe Haven
Hospitals are in an excellent position to spearhead community efforts for rescuing abandoned newborns. Planning and sensitive message development are critical. To get started:
- get approval from your executive management to develop a rescue program.
- get support from your local law enforcement and district attorney's office. It is critical that they agree to not prosecute mothers who bring their newborns to the hospital.
- get support and input from other area hospitals and encourage them to adopt similar policies on rescuing newborns.
- involve the religious community and local schools in outreach plans and initiatives.
- develop a formal hospital policy with input from physicians and nurses, particularly in the ER department.
- educate all employees about the hospital's policy on rescuing newborns before announcing it to the media.