infant mortality – Missouri House of Representatives Newsroom

VIDEO: ‘Baby Box,’ created by House efforts, used for first time to safely surrender a newborn

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.

For mothers in need of help, the Safe Haven Crisis Line is (866) 99BABY1, or visit shbb.org

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.

See our earlier story on the installation of this Baby Box

“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.”

House legislation enables safe place to surrender newborns in Missouri

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 whole idea of the Baby Boxes is [for there to be] no interaction with one human to another, so if you just want to do it and you want to do it anonymously, this is a method of doing it,” said Representative Jim Murphy (R-St. Louis), who sponsored the language that made Baby Boxes an option in Missouri.

For mothers in need of help, the Safe Haven Crisis Line is (866) 99BABY1, or visit shbb.org

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.

“It’s happened time and time again where we’ve discovered babies in alleyways or in dumpsters and so forth. For a woman to give up her child after birth has got to be a traumatic decision to make.”

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.

“I think the most important thing is that we try to deliver a message to mothers who are in this situation that their baby will be taken care of, and that’s the whole, entire goal of this thing is that the child shall have a good life from that day on and that we don’t villainize the person that gave the baby up. We actually honor them for making a decision that if they can’t care for their baby that they gave it up in a proper way.”

Murphy said since his language became law two years ago, the state had to develop language to ensure Boxes would be safe.

“Everything’s inspected properly, everything’s wired properly, the bassinet’s correct, there’s nothing in there that could endanger the baby, the alarms are set so that there are people readily available to retrieve the child … there’s all kinds of regulations that had to be promulgated to make sure that within a minute or two that that baby is put into care.”

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.

“I introduced baby boxes to allow parents anonymity so they can place their infant in an electronically monitored box that calls 911 on its own. It’s heated, it’s cooled, and the infants are only in these boxes for right about two minutes. With the amount of stories that we’re having across this country right now with babies being abandoned, these boxes are saving the lives of these kids now where before they were being thrown in dumpsters, trash cans, alongside highways, and stuff like that.”

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.

“Every story is different. Every story is unique, and every person handles crisis differently, but the one thing that all of these parents that are surrendering are doing is they’re putting their child first, and we should celebrate that.”

Babies who are dropped off under Safe Haven receive immediate care, and Kelsey said they are adopted within 30 to 45 days.

“Every baby that has come through the Baby Box program and the Safe Haven program has been adopted.”

For those who drop off a baby under Safe Haven, there is time to change their mind and reclaim their child.

“I don’t think our intent is to take babies away from parents. Our intent is to protect children,” said Murphy.

“They can get their children back as long as the termination of parental rights has not happened and that us ually takes between 30 and 45 days,” said Kelsey.

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.

“Every hospital in America – every hospital in the State of Missouri – is a Safe Haven location, and most [states’ Safe Haven laws also] have fire stations, Missouri is one of them, so every fire station that is manned – that is also another avenue for women in the State of Missouri,” said Kelsey.

Murphy’s Baby Box language was introduced in 2021 as House Bill 76, which was approved by the House 151-1. It was later amended to and became law as part of, House Bill 432 sponsored by Representative Hannah Kelly (R-Mountain Grove).

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.

“We’ll walk alongside you, or contact Mehlville Fire. Talk to Chief [Brian] Hendrix. See what his process was, see what he’s learned along the way … contact us if you want to get started. We’ll help you raise the funds so the government doesn’t have to pay for it. Mehlville Fire was 100% not tax dollars, so donors stepped forward for that … and that’s what we like to see. We like to see the communities come together and do this on their own.”

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.

Extension of postpartum coverage for low-income mothers expected to save lives, awaits governor’s action

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 takes a team of people that really care about legislation to move it and I’m just proud to be a part of that team,” said Representative Melanie Stinnett (R-Springfield), one of those sponsors.

“I think it makes a big difference for women who are looking at what life looks like after birth and how they can take care of themselves well and make sure that their family is healthy also. It really is going to impact children, also. I spoke when I testified in the House hearing about how important that first year of life is for a child, and if that mom’s getting healthcare she can ask those important questions about those things that are impacting her child, as well, so I think there are a wide variety of impacts that we’re going to see for families.”

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)*

“Everybody was just excited about actually doing something around postpartum that could really make a difference,” said Bosley.

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.

“Currently an average of 60 Missouri women die within one year of being pregnant … seventy-five percent of these deaths are preventable, so extending the coverage from 60 days to one year will absolutely address our maternal mortality rate in this state.”

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.

Sedalia Republican Brad Pollitt said, “I didn’t vote for expanded Medicaid but this isn’t an expansion, this is just an extension for a select few who kind of fall through the cracks. I was glad that we were able to give them the opportunity to have this coverage to cut down on the number of deaths, not only in the mothers but also the babies.”

*Representative Patty Lewis (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)*

He adds, “I’m pleased that we had a bipartisan, pro-life bill that we could come to an agreement on and pass and get it to the governor’s desk.”

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.

“We need to give [women] access to the services and the care that they need in order to stay healthy in order to raise those babies,” said Bosley.

She noted that some groups in Missouri are impacted more greatly by infant and maternal mortality than others.

“As an African American woman I am three times more likely to die during childbirth in the State of Missouri and throughout this country, so to be able to give women who look like me and poor women across this state an opportunity to be able to have lifesaving [healthcare], like we’re actually changing lives, that was the purpose of us being sent here.”

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)*

“From a partner’s perspective, who doesn’t know how to identify the signs of when someone is going through a postpartum, maybe postpartum depression, this also gives them the ability to learn and to advocate on behalf of their partner – behalf of the mom and baby, so not only are we saving mommy and baby’s lives, we also are saving relationships and families and building a cohort around how we can do that for mommy, baby, and papa.”

Each of these lawmakers spoke to House Communications through huge smiles as they talked about getting this legislation to the governor.

Said Lewis, “One of the main reasons I ran for office is because I believed I could save more lives on a macro level through policy, and this particular bill is something that will truly save lives.”

Pollitt added, “It’s a good thing. It’s something we should do. I think it’s a common sense approach.”

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.

Help for low-income and disabled Missourians a focus in final days of session

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.

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.

The measure, sponsored by Representative Alex Riley (R-Springfield), would let people incrementally transition off of state assistance, “Trying to create this transitional system that encouraged people to work, that encouraged people to take those raises and to start to work their way up the income ladder and to hopefully, once this goes into effect, actually reduce the number of people receiving benefits in the state.”

That provision is the product of years of work by members of both parties. Lee’s Summit Democrat Keri Ingle called it a, “great bill … it’s been a bipartisan effort to essentially wean folks off of assistance, whether it’s TANF or SNAP, and make it easier for Missourians to get what they need to be successful working citizens while at the same time making sure that all of their needs are being met.”

*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.

“These are people who are actually begging us to work, who want to work, who want to get promotions, who want to seek new jobs. What [this] bill does is address the fiscal cliff, making sure that you don’t have to do quite as much of a tap dance that too many people in our state are doing, where you’re allowed to make so much money but only to a certain point,” said St. Louis Democrat Bridget Walsh Moore.

Walsh Moore, who lives and works with a disability, said the benefits that individuals stand to lose often enable them to have a job in the first place. Things like, “a personal care attendant, your health insurance your additional services and equipment that you receive through the state that allow you to work. This would address and allow you to make more money, put that money back into the economy because if you make more money you’re going to spend more money.”

*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.

Stinnett, one of several sponsors of this proposal, said, “In 2019, 75-percent of pregnancy-related deaths in Missouri were determined to be preventable; those deaths that were attributed to things like embolism, hemorrhage, infections, concerns with cardiovascular health, chronic health conditions, and there’s one common denominator that can save these women’s lives, and that’s healthcare access.”

Several Republicans have cited this as an important pro-life provision. Representative Darin Chappell (R-Rogersville) said, “We who talk about being pro-life, I don’t know how we do that and then cut off the most vulnerable of our society after 60 days … I believe if we’re ever going to spend money [on benefits programs] it ought to be for those most vulnerable among us. Those very ones that we fought for them to be able to be born. We have to take care of them.”

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*

“The reality is we are in a situation where we all, in all of our districts, have employers that are begging for workers. The number of unfilled positions right now is just astronomical and the idea that we as a state might incentivize people to stay home and not work and not take a promotion, not take a job opportunity because they might just make a slim little bit more money that puts them in a hole when it comes to feeding their family, well that’s just insane.”

Sponsors are hopeful at least one of the bills containing these provisions will reach the governor’s desk before the session closes at 6pm on May 12.

Bipartisan set of bills would extend post-pregnancy healthcare

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.

Six representatives have filed that proposal, including Majority Floor Leader Jonathan Patterson (R-Lees Summit).

“The wellbeing of the child is based upon the wellbeing of the mother, so that’s why we’re really worried about, and we really want to focus on, healthcare for the mother, because it affects the child,” said Patterson.

He says there are about 5,000 women in Missouri who don’t have insurance coverage either through the state, personal coverage, or an employer.

“The data are very clear that it’s critically important. You’re talking about the physical development of the child, development of the brain, that they have support, and one of those things is having a mother that can be there. For example if your mother is in the hospital for a mental crisis or high blood pressure they can’t be there for the child so that’s what we’re trying to avoid.”

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 44^th in the nation for its “abnormally high” rate.

Kansas City Democrat Patty Lewis calls the situation, “abysmal.” She said in a Department of Health and Senior Services report covering 2017 to 2019, “Something that was pretty astounding to me based on their findings is 75-percent of the deaths are preventable. As [someone with a] background in nursing, if we can prevent something that’s what I want to do,” said Lewis.

She said in the years covered by the report an average of 61 women died while pregnant or within one year of pregnancy, with 68 in 2018.

“If we can just save one that would be great, but saving 60 women I think would be very important to me.”

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.

“I work in the realm of healthcare and I work with a lot of families with children with disabilities, specifically, but also work really closely with organizations like The Doula Foundation and midwife groups in Springfield so it’s certainly something that’s come up in Springfield and a topic that has been something that I’ve talked about in our community,” said Stinnett.

Representative Brad Pollitt (R-Sedalia) said the data about how many of those deaths could have been prevented weighs heavily on him.

He said the proposal, “is just giving a little extra healthcare to get them off on the right foot and to help the mother who may be having issues and I just think it’s the right thing to do.”

“It’s not the state’s job, it’s not the taxpayer’s job to financially take care of every individual from birth to death. That’s not what this is doing. This is giving someone an opportunity to start off on a better life and if we can do that then I just think it’s the right thing to do and I think it shows that we do care as a party about life after the baby’s born, and about the mother’s life.”

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.

“We carried it before that Dobbs case. We’re going to carry it after that Dobbs case. We’re interested in lives, and lives being fulfilled from conception to death, and so I see this piece of legislation as a part of a holistic agenda that is pro-life.”

Representative LaKeySha Bosley (D-St. Louis), who is for the fourth time sponsoring this proposal, says that it is “imperative” after Dobbs, “as we did pass the abortion ban, and [even] before we passed House Bill 126, the heartbeat bill, women who were in rural or underserved communities were dying [in] childbirth.”

Patterson agrees with his fellow Republicans, “We’re a pro-life state. I’m very proud to be pro-life, but that also means taking care of these children that are born. This is a measure that would ensure that the mother has healthcare for a year after they’re born, which is critically important to the wellbeing of the newborn baby.”

*Representative Brad Pollitt (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)*

Bosley notes that while maternal mortality rates are an issue statewide, they hit some in Missouri harder than others.

“As an African American woman, as a minority in the State of Missouri … women who look like me are dying at a higher number and at a higher rate than our white counterparts.”

Bosley is glad that this proposal has gained more sponsors and a lot of media attention and she hopes it will lead to more.

“I’m happy that it’s a hot topic. Let’s go further than just the 12^th months. Let’s talk about doulas. Let’s go into the holistic conversation about how we can provide some assistance to doulas and have them be reimbursed,” adding, “Extending the coverage from the three months to the twelve months is just one of the small things that we can do, and it may seem small but it’s going to mean so much to a lot more people across the state.”

*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.

“It’s just a common sense measure that we can do to ensure the health of the babies.”

None of the House versions of this bill have been referred to a committee.

The bills that have been filed are: House Bill 91 (Patterson), House Bill 254 (Pollitt), House Bill 286 (Lewis), House Bill 328 (Bosley), House Bill 354 (Davidson), and House Bill 965 (Stinnett).