Alabama's fifth Safe Haven Baby Box opens at Tuscaloosa fire station

Tuscaloosa Fire Station 1 has installed a Safe Haven Baby Box, which is designed to allow mothers to safely surrender their newborn baby with no questions asked.

City leaders, community members and more gathered May 22 at Tuscaloosa Fire Station 1, 1501 Greensboro Ave., for the blessing and ribbon-cutting for the station's new Safe Haven Baby Box.

There are now 231 Safe Haven Baby Box locations in the United States. This is the fifth location in Alabama, according to a news release. Gadsden, Madison, Prattville and Dothan also have the Baby Boxes.

"Tuscaloosa Fire and Rescue saves lives every single day,' said Mayor Walt Maddox during the ceremony. "What this does is helps up continue to save lives."

The Baby Box is installed in an exterior wall of the fire station. It has an exterior door that automatically locks after placement of a newborn inside the Baby Box, and an interior door that allows a medical staff member to secure the surrendered newborn from inside the building.

Once the newborn infant is placed inside the Baby Box, an alarm will sound and alert 911 and medics.

Tuscaloosa Fire and Rescue Chief Randy Smith said that he believes the Baby Box has the potential to be a valuable resource for the community.

"Tuscaloosa Fire Rescue is hopeful that the addition of the Safe Haven Baby Box at Fire Station 1 will have a positive impact on all of those affected, should it be needed. We are thankful to all of those involved who helped bring this resource to the City of Tuscaloosa," Smith said.

Monica Kelsey, founder of Safe Haven Baby Boxes, said the Baby Boxes provide mothers in crisis with a safe option for their infant, as opposed to abandonment.

"It is a good day for Tuscaloosa to have this option for the first time in its history... which is an anonymous option for a parent who wants to save the life of their child," Kelsey said.

Kelsey founded Safe Haven Baby Boxes in 2015 with the goal of ending infant abandonment. The organization provides a confidential National Hotline, 1-866-99BABY1. Sixteen states have a Baby Box presence within their state, the release states.

Since 2017, 48 infants have been safely and legally surrendered in a Baby Box. The National Safe Haven Crisis line has assisted with 150 handoff surrenders. Each year the numbers increase with more Baby Boxes available across the country. Surrendered infants are adopted by families who have registered as foster to adopt. The Local Department of family services coordinates the adoption process, the release states.

For more information, go to https://www.shbb.org.

Reach Jasmine Hollie at JHollie@gannett.com.