07-04-2025
Life saving: Third baby safely surrendered in Hobbs Baby Box
Editor's Note: The video above references the criminal case that inspired the Safe Haven Baby Box movement across New Mexico. It first aired in 2022.
HOBBS, New Mexico (KMID/KPEJ)- Advocates in New Mexico rejoiced earlier this week after another baby was safely surrendered in a Baby Box location in Hobbs. The infant marked the third safe surrender in the two years in which the box has been available to the community.
There box, located at Hobbs Fire Station #1 at 301 E White Street, opened on May 9, 2023. Hobbs Fire Station #1 is located at 301 E White Street. The Baby Box is permanently located on the east side of the building, facing Fowler Street and is intended to serve women in crisis, while keeping their babies safe.
Advocates pushed for the boxes across the state after an hours-old infant was rescued from a dumpster after his 18-year-old mother tied him up in a grocery sack and threw him into the bin and left him there shortly after he was born.
Safe Haven Baby Box founder Monica Kelsey said, 'In January 2022, an infant was found in a dumpster six hours after his desperate mother placed him there. Today, this community is radically changed by the availability of an option for safe anonymous surrender. Three mothers have selflessly used this location now in under two years since the box was blessed and available for parents in crisis. We are pleased to see this community turn the tide on infant abandonment. Mothers in crisis are seeking anonymity; we know this and have seen our boxes' tremendous impact on communities. This birth mother loved her infant, and we are proud of her selflessness.'
SHBB is the only organization in the nation dedicated to providing an anonymous surrender option for mothers in crisis. The organization was founded in 2016 by
Kelsey, who learned in adulthood that she was abandoned as an infant. Now, her life's mission is to end infant abandonment and advocate for the Safe Haven Law. In
addition to educating citizens on the Safe Haven Law, Safe Haven Baby Boxes provides free confidential counseling via its hotline, 1-866-99BABY1.
A Baby Box allows for an infant's legal, safe, and anonymous surrender provided under the Safe Haven Law. It features three silent alarms alerting first responders to the presence of a surrendered infant. The baby will be attended to in under 5 minutes and taken to the hospital for medical evaluation. Termination of parental rights often occurs within 30 to 45
days, and the infants are placed with families who are signed up for foster care with the intention to adopt.
Since 2017, 58 infants have been placed in a Baby Box. Nationwide, over 160 surrenders have resulted from calling the National Safe Haven hotline.
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