Baby box installed in Long Beach allows safe avenue for parents to relinquish infants

Mississippi's Safe Haven law was amended during the 2023 legislative session, allowing cities to install baby boxes at emergency service locations so a parent who wants to surrender their infant to the state has an anonymous option for doing so. The period after delivery in which the baby can be surrendered was also extended from seven to 45 days.

“The baby box takes the face-to-face interaction away.”  

That's Monica Kelsey, founder and CEO of Safe Haven Baby Boxes.

“[Parents] might feel judged or shamed, and this is just an opportunity for them to surrender their child if that’s what they think is best for them and their child, but do it in a safe way.”

Kelsey discovered in adulthood that she had been abandoned as an infant, and started the company to prevent the deaths of infants who are abandoned in unsafe conditions.

Alarms are installed to notify when the door of the box is opened, so the baby can be attended to immediately. 

Long Beach Fire Chief Griff Skellie, said it’s an honor to have the first baby box in the state at his fire station.

“I don’t have to send a man into a life-hazardous area or a structure fire… to save a life. They can walk down a hall and pick this baby up and save its life. So it’s win-win for us,” Skellie says.

Mississippi is the 12th state to install a Safe Haven Baby Box. Thirty-five infants have been surrendered inside the boxes since 2017.