For the first time in Missouri a “Baby Box,” allowed in state law thanks to a 2021 House bill, has been used to safely hand over a newborn to emergency officials.
Last Thursday a baby girl believed to have been several hours old was left in the “Safe Haven Baby Box” at a Mehlville Fire Protection District Station 2. The child was taken to a local hospital, and is now in state custody. Authorities said she is in perfect health.
The Baby Box, installed in August and the only one in Missouri, is built into an outer wall at the Fire Station. It allowed the mother to place the girl into a bassinet and close the door. This triggered alarms in the fire station to let personnel know that a child had been relinquished.
Missouri law has since 2002 allowed for babies to be dropped off at places including hospitals and fire stations. The 2021 proposal from Representative Jim Murphy (R-St. Louis) to allow Baby Boxes in Missouri meant to expand on that 2002 law, to allow a person to drop off a baby without interacting with anyone, and with complete anonymity.
Murphy shared the news with his fellow legislators on Monday, and commended the little girl’s mother.
“She should be honored for making a great decision for a baby girl, who now will have a fruitful life,” said Murphy. “I personally would like to thank everybody in this body who voted for that bill, because today we celebrate life and saving a baby’s life, and I think that’s something worth celebrating and I think we should all be very proud of that.”
The first Baby Box in Missouri has been installed, and more are coming.
Representative Jim Murphy (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Baby Boxes are an extension of the Safe Haven law, which allows parents to relinquish a newborn up to 45 days old without fear of prosecution. That law, in place in Missouri since 2002, allows for babies to be dropped off at places including hospitals and fire stations, but Baby Boxes offer an option for parents who don’t want face-to-face contact.
The first Box in the state is in his district, at Mehlville Fire Protection District Station 2. There is a commitment for a second Box at Mehlville, and more fire stations in the state are expressing interest.
Murphy said the Safe Haven Law is saving the lives of children.
The box is built into an outer wall at the Mehlville Fire Station. A parent can open it, place a baby inside in a bassinet, and close the door. Alarms will alert personnel on duty, who will remove the bassinet and take the baby to a hospital.
Founder and CEO of Safe Haven Baby Boxes Monica Kelsey helped guide the legislation that allows for these Boxes in Missouri and other states. So far more than 160 have been installed.
She said there are many reasons a parent might want to give up a child, including factors like financial struggles, mental health issues, or domestic abuse. She wants people to support those who utilize the Safe Haven Law.
The installation of this Baby Box has gotten a lot of attention, but Murphy and Kelsey want to stress that it is not the only place in the state to drop off a child.
Since its installation in August, the Box in Mehlville hasn’t been used. Since the Safe Haven Law was adopted in Missouri in 2002, 61 babies have been surrendered.
Kelsey said those who want to see a Baby Box installed in their community can contact her organization for help.
For mothers in need of help, the Safe Haven Crisis Line is (866) 99BABY1. Kelsey’s organization, Safe Haven Baby Boxes, can be found online at shbb.org.
One of the measures the Missouri legislature approved before its session ended last week could save and improve the lives of mothers and their infants, and get the state out of the basement in state rankings for infant and maternal mortality.
Representative Melanie Stinnett (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Amendments added to two bills, Senate Bill 106 and Senate Bill 45, would extend MO HealthNet or Show-Me Healthy Babies coverage for low-income pregnant women to a full year after the end of their pregnancy. Currently that coverage stops after 60 days.
At the beginning of the legislative session a bipartisan group of six House members had filed that proposal, with several more having co-sponsored it.
It was the fourth time Representative LaKeySha Bosley (D-St. Louis) had brought the idea forward, and she said she was ecstatic to see one of “her babies” reach the governor’s desk, and for it to have been part of a truly bipartisan effort.
Representative LaKeySha Bosley (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Legislators heard time and time again that a reason to pass this legislation is that Missouri is one of the lowest ranked states in terms of maternal and infant mortality. Representative Patty Lewis’ (D-Kansas City) background includes more than 20 years in nursing. She said this extension will make a huge difference for low-income Missouri mothers, and thereby help Missouri improve that ranking.
Many Republicans point out that the measure is also fiscally conservative. By improving outcomes for mothers, and thereby for their infants, many of them will require less state assistance and will make fewer emergency room visits.
Democrats say the bill was especially important in the wake of last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision that triggered a law banning most abortions in Missouri.
Bosley said this additional coverage for mothers and infants impacts an entire family. People often don’t think about what a partner goes through when a mother or infant are sick.
Brad Pollitt (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
This provision would become law immediately upon SB 106 or SB 45 becoming law. Those bills are now awaiting action by Governor Mike Parson (R), who could choose to either sign them into law, allow them to become law without his action, or veto them.
In the House, proposals that would help Missourians with disabilities, those with low incomes, and new mothers on state assistance, are being given every chance to become law before the end of the session next week. The chamber has voted to add those pieces of legislation to several bills that are still in play in these final days.
Representative Melanie Stinnett (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Among those is a transitional program meant to help people get off of state assistance gradually as their income increases. House members say the state’s assistance programs for low-income Missourians trap people in poverty because if they accept a raise that puts them above a program’s limits, they could lose more in state benefits than they gain from a raise.
Representative Bridget Walsh Moore (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
The House has voted this week to add that language to two bills. It did the same for language sponsored by Representative Melanie Stinnett (R-Springfield) that could allow individuals with disabilities to finally be able to advance in their careers without worry of losing state assistance.
The changes to the state’s Ticket to Work health insurance program within MO HealthNet would increase the limit to how much a person can earn before they lose benefits, and would not count up to $50,000 of a spouse’s income toward that limit. It would also direct state agencies to have policies to recruit and keep employees with disabilities and create competitive ways to integrate them into workforces.
Representative Alex Riley (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Also supported in the House this week has been a bipartisan plan to extend post-partum coverage under MO HealthNet or Show-Me Healthy Babies from 60 days to a year.
Representative Tony Lovasco (R-O’Fallon) said even very conservative Republicans like himself could get behind all of these proposals, which don’t expand the state’s assistance programs.
Representative Keri Ingle (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications
A bipartisan group of House lawmakers is sponsoring legislation that they hope will save the lives of women and infants in Missouri, and in doing so, move the state farther from the bottom in the nation in infant and maternal mortality.
Majority Floor Leader Jon Patterson (R) (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Their proposals would extend MO HealthNet or Show-Me Healthy Babies coverage for low-income pregnant women to a full year after the end of their pregnancy. Currently that coverage stops after 60 days.
Representative LaKeySha Bosley (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Governor Mike Parson (R) in his State of the State Address earlier this month said, “we are heartbroken to be failing,” in the area of infant mortality, with Missouri ranking 44th in the nation for its “abnormally high” rate.
Freshman representative Melanie Stinnett (R-Springfield) said maternal healthcare was an issue that voters talked to her about leading up to her election in November.
Representative Patty Lewis (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
The Republican sponsors of the bill acknowledge that it also relates to their party’s identity regarding its pro-life stance. Bishop Davidson (R-Republic) said his party is often criticized as only supporting life before birth, but this bill is one thing that demonstrates otherwise.
Representative Melanie Stinnett (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Representative Bishop Davidson (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
Patterson observes that the broad appeal of this plan isn’t limited to the House but extends to the Senate, where two versions have been filed and have already received a hearing. He and the other sponsors share great optimism that this will pass this year.