Muncie fire station gets nation’s 50th Safe Haven Baby Box

MUNCIE — The 50th Safe Haven Baby Box to be installed in the nation was recently installed at a Muncie fire station.

The goal of the boxes is to help give mothers a safe place to surrender their newborns anonymously. The boxes are safe incubators with alarm systems to notify emergency personnel as soon as a baby is placed inside the box.

The new baby box is at Muncie Fire Station #1, 421 E. Jackson St., in downtown Muncie.

MAP | Safe Haven Baby Box locations

Funds donated by the Prevent Child Abuse Council of Delaware County helped cover the approximate $15,000 costs to install the box, according to a press release from Safe Haven Baby Box.

“I would like to thank everybody involved with the Safe Haven Baby Box,” Muncie Fire Department Chief David Miller said in a press release. “The Muncie Fire Department is honored to be a part of such a great project and look forward to serving the Muncie community in this endeavor and other worthwhile projects.”

Indiana’s Safe Haven laws allow anyone to surrender a healthy newborn baby 30-days-old or younger without facing criminal prosecution, according to the release.

READ | ‘She gave us a gift’ Indiana’s baby boxes aren’t just saving babies, they’re completing families | Indiana’s Safe Haven Baby Boxes are saving — and changing — lives

You can watch a Facebook Live from Safe Haven Baby Box from Saturday’s event below: