Baby Box to Be Installed at New Mexico Hospital Where Newborn Was Found Dead

A Safe Haven Baby Box is going to be installed at a New Mexico hospital next week, where parents can safely surrender their newborns anonymously.

The baby box will be installed at Artesia General Hospital nearly three years after a newborn was found dead in a trash bin there, KRQE reported. The mother of the infant was later charged, according to the report. 

“We know anonymity can save lives and know this community will be better prepared to serve women in crisis with this addition,” Safe Haven Baby Boxes reacted in a post to Facebook. 

Baby boxes were created to deter parents from abandoning their newborns in unsafe conditions, potentially leaving them to die. Baby boxes are temperature-controlled incubators often built into exterior walls of fire stations, police stations, and hospitals that can be accessed from inside. At-risk mothers can safely and legally place their newborns inside. Once the baby is inside the baby box, the outside door locks and the mother has time to leave before an alarm goes off alerting first responders or hospital staff to the child’s presence.

The baby is then quickly removed and sent to a hospital for a wellness check. From there, the baby is usually placed into state custody and is often quickly adopted.

RELATED: Third Infant Surrendered to New Mexico Safe Haven Baby Box

The new baby box will be the eleventh location in New Mexico, according to the report.

According to the organization, there are now 373 baby box locations across the United States.

In New Mexico, infants up to 90 days old can be legally surrendered to baby boxes, hospitals, police stations, and fire stations, according to the organization. 

Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.