I was just watching out local news and there was a feature on babies being abandoned in hospitals in Oregon and Washington after a baby was abandoned in a Vancouver Wa Hospital. (short brief: http://www.katu.com/stories/86970.html ). The infant is fine thank goodness!!!
I didn't know this but I guess it is legal to abandon your baby in a hospital or fire station within a certain period of time in the two states. Washington state it is 72 hours after birth, Oregon it is 30 days. I had no idea about that law!!! So this woman will not get punishment or repremand for doing this. The article did say that if there were signs of abuse, that a parent then is held responsible and will face an abuse charge.
They said that the child will be a toddler before she would be able for adoption because of the process of trying to find a family member who may want her (the woman left a fake name so it is hard to find her or family)...and other things the state must do.
That seems so sad for this infant, however...maybe living with the mother would be far worse?
Do you think it should remain legal to abandon your infant at a hospital or fire station?
It is legal here in MN also. I think it is a good idea. (I actually think they should extend the time period to about 1 week because a lot of mothers don't realize how they are going to react until they are home and all alone).
I'd much rather have the baby be taken to a hospital or fire station where they will be taken care of than put in a dumpster somewhere wrapped up in a plastic bag.
I don't really like the fact that it happens but we have to be realistic here. It happens and whatever can be done to save the baby should be the first priority.
Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.
I think it is a wonderful thing; however I'm confused about what the OP said, about the baby that wouldn't be able to be adopted until it was a toddler??? Why is that?
i think this definitely needs to stay legal. i know that there will probably still be women that don't use it and abandon their baby, but think of all the babies that have been or will be saved by this. it's too bad that a girl where i live didnt think to do this. she left her baby in an alley near a garage, but then covered him with a tarp and placed boards on top of it to keep the tarp in place. thank god that the man that owned the garage heard the baby crying and rescued him. now she is trying to say that it was an accident. excuse me, but how can she possibly say that putting the baby under there and covering him up was an accident?!?! :angryfire
Specializes in Happily semi-retired; excited for the whole whammy.
I think it is a wonderful thing; however I'm confused about what the OP said, about the baby that wouldn't be able to be adopted until it was a toddler??? Why is that?
Children become eligible for adoption much more quickly when the parents sign away their parental rights as opposed to having them terminated by a court. They'll have to try to find both parents before they can even start the termination procedure. The process has become somewhat more streamlined in recent years, so in many cases it doesn't take as long as it once did, though.
Here is your best argument...Go to a search engine-yahoo, msn, whatever..
Type the following words- Baby left
I was looking for an article I had read a week ago about an infant left in a couples flowerbed, and the husband had speculated that becuase his wife is a nurse, and comes and go's in scrubs, someone thought the baby would be safe there.
What I found instead was story after story about baby's left in trash cans, a wal mart toilet, etc...
If one mom learns about safe haven (what we call in Oh, and not well known) and leaves the baby in a safe warm place, it's worth it.
Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
california has had the active safely surrender baby law since 2001. surrender sites display a clearly visible logo that indicates they are a place where a baby may be surrendered. the intent of the law is to specifically prevent newborns from being injured or killed because they have been abandoned. it applies to babies three days old or younger. it is totally anonymous with no exchange of names required and the parent(s) assured of not being prosecuted for child abandonment as long as the baby shows no signs of abuse. the parent(s) has a 14-day period of time within which they can reclaim the baby if they desire at the same place where they made the abandonment.
for those of you in california, this is the official website for the california safely surrender baby law
i think that laws encouraging leaving newborns at firehouses, police stations and hospitals should be in place in more states. it sure beats the alternatives. several years ago a baby was found lying on a curb under a row of hedges. she probably wouldn't have been seen at all if it had been summer. as it was, the leaves had thinned out considerably and she was visible to a passer-by. how this little girl survived as long as she did is a miracle in itself. when she was brought to the hospital she was severely hypothermic but she obviously had a strong will to survive and she completely recovered without any permanent damage. this little girl is now 12 or so and doing fine. every once in a while the local news brings this back up, especially when legislation involving abandonment is in the works. i'd much rather hear about a baby being left at a hospital than being found in a mall trash can or dumpster. i say it's a good idea and more states should adopt legislation to help women who feel they have no alternative.
This month's Glamour had an article kind of about this, about a young woman who was abandoned on the street as a baby. But it did also say about 750 babies were to safe havens last year, and sightly less were abandoned. So I think that having a safe haven is a wonderful thing.
yeah for this law! keep it legal! it is a very excellent alternative for a newborn who's mommy, for whatever reason cannot keep them. they have somewhere to go that is safe, warm and where people will hold, love and adore this new little one until a family can be found for them. what a perfect way to help adoptive parents bring a baby home to raise and love, the 3 years in foster care is a a real big problem however! that needs attention and change. no child should have to wait to be adopted, we need laws that protect the abandoned child that allows them to be adopted within a short period of time.
Specializes in PICU, Nurse Educator, Clinical Research.
I support these laws 1000%. I've seen a four-day-old infant on a ventilator with catastrophic brain damage because one of his parents shook him nearly to death. Social workers were desperately searching for a foster home for him, but even the most seasoned foster parents who visited left the room in tears. that child would spend the remainder of his brief life in this condition. did his mother know about the safe haven law? i doubt it. A year later, I still think about that baby and what he might be like today had that horrible abuse not occurred.
i believe these laws should be heavily publicized- if a parent is completely unable (or unwilling) to take care of their baby, surrendering him to the authorities is ALWAYS the right decision.
saving even one child justifies the law, period. I've seen too many abused children to believe otherwise. and, even if the child can't be adopted for a while, there are wonderful foster families out there who can love and care for the child until that point. I know that the foster care system is rarely ideal, but I'd much rather see a baby going into foster care than into a barrel full of garbage.
Children become eligible for adoption much more quickly when the parents sign away their parental rights as opposed to having them terminated by a court. They'll have to try to find both parents before they can even start the termination procedure. The process has become somewhat more streamlined in recent years, so in many cases it doesn't take as long as it once did, though.
But, that's a good thing. A new mom that would abandon a baby OBVIOUSLY doesn't want anyone to know about it.
How would it be fair to that potential dad to summarily adopt that child out without at least informing him of his rights and/or the EXISTENCE of the child?
A good faith effort to locate HIM is at least in order.
But it DOES take a backseat to protecting that child from an impulsive act of a scared person.
luvmy3kids
675 Posts
It is legal here in MN also. I think it is a good idea. (I actually think they should extend the time period to about 1 week because a lot of mothers don't realize how they are going to react until they are home and all alone).
I'd much rather have the baby be taken to a hospital or fire station where they will be taken care of than put in a dumpster somewhere wrapped up in a plastic bag.
I don't really like the fact that it happens but we have to be realistic here. It happens and whatever can be done to save the baby should be the first priority.