‘Similar tragedy’ led Iowa town to install baby box

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – An incident similar to the discovery of a dead infant in Sioux Falls on Tuesday, prompted an Iowa town in 2022 to seek another option for parents.

Steve Hergenreter, Fort Dodge, Iowa’s fire chief, said a “similar tragedy” in 2022 caused the town to install a Safe Haven Baby Box at the fire department. The Iowa infant’s parents were convicted of drowning the child and burying it. The body has not yet been found. The Sioux Falls incident is still under investigation .

“Some people in the community we’re looking at what could be done to prevent this in the future,” Hergenreter said. “When someone has a child and thinks they have to take that kind of action, is there some alternative to help them?”

According to the website, Safe Haven Baby Boxes were created to remove the face-to-face interaction between mothers who wish to surrender their babies and emergency staff at hospitals, fire and police departments and social services.

The climate-controlled box is installed on the outside of the wall and can be accessed by both the outside and inside. Once a baby has been anonymously placed into a box, the door will lock and multiple silent alarms will notify medical staff. The SHBB website says the baby is secured in less than two minutes. There are also orange bags with resources for the birth mother if she chooses to take them.

These boxes only work, however, in states where you can anonymously surrender your baby and not physically hand them over to medical staff. At the time, Iowa did not have this law. Hergenreter said local leaders in Fort Dodge were able to get the law changed by July 2023 and the box installed by October.

“It takes that big hurdle or the big barrier of having to hand off your baby and give your name and stuff, they can do it anonymously,” he said. “It gives them a whole other option to keep the baby alive and remain anonymous.”

Currently, people in South Dakota must leave their baby with a staff member at the emergency locations. The South Dakota Department of Social Services website said the person leaving their baby may be asked questions about the baby’s health, but they are not required to provide personal information.

Hergenreter said that while they did have to change the law, the process to get the box installed was simple and the community was able to raise enough money for the box and additional education on how it’s used.

Since October, the box in Fort Dodge hasn’t seen a baby, but Hergenreter said just the option could give parents some peace of mind.

“I think some of our social service organizations in our area are educating people now that potentially could be in that position and they’re doing public information, letting the public know that there is this option of anonymously leaving your child in the baby box.”

The Safe Haven Baby Box website said it has referred over 500 women to crisis pregnancy centers, assisted in nine adoption referrals, and have had over 150 legal Safe Haven surrenders. Fifty babies have been anonymously surrendered in the baby boxes.

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