A fifth newborn was safely surrendered to an Indiana Safe Haven Baby Box. That brings the national total to 12. The Kokomo Fire Department says a 2-day-old baby girl was dropped off in the baby box at Fire Station #1 on Tuesday.
The Baby Box is temperature controlled and has silent alarms to notify first responders within five minutes. The child is then medically evaluated at the hospital and adopted within 30 to 45 days. Indiana has the most baby boxes of any U.S state with 103.
Nationwide, over 130 surrenders have resulted from calls to the Safe Haven Baby Boxes national hotline. The first baby surrendered this year was at the Cleveland Township Fire Station in Elkhart County in March.