Salida Pregnancy Resource Center in Colorado recently gathered newborn items and other materials and donated them to the local fire station and hospital emergency room in order to promote the state’s safe haven law.
These ‘baby bundles’ consisted of newborn diapers, caps, receiving blankets, and other supplies to help those in the community who might respond to a parent seeking safe haven for their baby.
“In Colorado, the two approved providers under our safe haven law, where a child can be legally relinquished by a parent within the first 72 hours of birth, are manned fire stations and hospital ER and emergency clinics,” said Judy Ann Fender, RN, executive director of the Salida Pregnancy Resource Center.
“In our community, we have a fire department that's manned 24 hours a day, and we have a large hospital and emergency room,” Fender said. “So, I began to ask if a child were to be relinquished at either one of those sites. did they have anything to care for the infant while the infant was in their possession?”
[Click here to subscribe to Pregnancy Help News!]
She learned the answer was “no.” Safe haven had not been sought in Salida to anyone’s recollection.
“Nobody was prepared,” Fender said. “There was no provision for newborn diapers, blankets, some kind of little clothing. So, we talked about it here at the center, and I have two volunteers who were really interested in helping with this, so we purchased some supplies and put together what we call ‘baby bundles,’ bags of items [and donated them].”
She wrote a grant to cover the costs, and the Archdiocese of Colorado provided $1,500 to pay for the supplies, which also included disposable gloves for the workers who would interact with a relinquished infant.
Safe haven laws
Safe haven laws are in effect in all 50 states. However, each is different in various ways, including how and where to legally relinquish a baby and how long after giving birth that a parent can relinquish.
For example, where Colorado gives a parent three days and that parent can only relinquish their child to a 24-hour staffed fire station or emergency room or clinic, neighboring Kansas offers 60 days for legal relinquishment and the places where a parent can leave a child is diverse, including hospitals and other health care facilities, fire and police stations, health department offices, and infant safety devices, such as Safe Haven Baby Boxes. Colorado’s southern neighbor, New Mexico, offers seven of these life-saving devices. That state gives parents 90 days to legally relinquish their child, which can also be done at hospitals and fire and police stations.
The safe haven topic is important to Fender. She believes education is the key to decreasing infant deaths due to abandonment.
“If a woman becomes desperate, we want her to know there's a safe place for that baby and she's not going to be facing any criminal charges regarding abandonment, because if it's done correctly and it's done with the fire station or the hospital ER, that is legal and that baby will be cared for,” Fender told Pregnancy Help News.
Tweet This: Salida Pregnancy Resource Center donates 'baby bundles' to promote Safe Haven Law, ensuring babies are cared for in emergency situations.
According to the National Safe Haven Alliance, 31 babies were illegally abandoned in the United States in 2021, 22 of whom were found deceased. That same year, according to the organization, 73 infants were saved due to Safe Haven laws.
Colorado’s Safe Haven Law has been in effect since 2000. According to Colorado Safe Haven for Newborns, 87 infants have been safely surrendered across the state.
Fender is doing other outreach to educate her community about safe haven, including radio and PSAs.
“This needs to be an ongoing education program because there are more parents who are facing extreme challenges today,” Fender said, “trying to parent, trying to make a living, trying to find a place to live, so I think there just needs to be ongoing, consistent education in the community.”
Her center provides the toll-free, 24/7 hotline to the National Safe Haven Alliance to clients as a resource, and she encourages other centers to do the same. That number is 1-888-510-BABY (2229).
35 years of community service
Located about 100 miles west of Pueblo amid the Rocky Mountains, Salida’s population stands at nearly 5,300. Although a small town, Planned Parenthood has a stake in the community and is located just a few blocks from Salida Pregnancy Resource Center, Fender said. The center’s primary focus is helping families, whether single parents or complete families. Providing the baby bundles, writing newspaper articles, and speaking on the radio about Safe Haven as she does, are just a few ways Fender and her staff and volunteers meet that objective.
Other ways include offering parenting classes and providing a baby boutique. Earlier this year, Fender started a Car Seat for Dads program after receiving another grant. Car seats were given to dads who completed online Bright Course classes geared for fathers.
“That's been very popular,” Fender said. “We [recently] gave away our seventh car seat.”
The pregnancy center, which is a medical clinic offering pregnancy testing and ultrasounds, celebrates its 35th anniversary in October. A major fundraiser is planned for October 15, said Fender, who began serving as the executive director last year.
“We are totally supported financially and for the clothing and things that we have available for moms and families by our local community and some grants that we receive,” she said. “We do not receive any government funding of any kind and that's intentional.”
As the center moves into its 36th year in Salida, Fender envisions growing the space to meet increased community demand. She said she doesn’t know what that looks like yet, but it’s “something that the board is looking at, how can we best utilize space here or somewhere else in our community.”
“We have more and more families that we're serving, and we're doing more education,” Fender said.
She is planning a new project in order to learn how best to continue assisting those people in her community.
“I feel that there are families that we're not providing exactly what they need, so I'm looking at doing a community assessment at the beginning of next year,” she said.
As the 2024 autumn fundraiser draws near, Fender said she is excited to introduce new people to the work of the pregnancy center.
“This year we moved to a larger venue so we're working really hard to increase the numbers, especially of those who have never been before and to get them involved,” she said. “The pro-life people are out there – we’ve just got to get them in to see us and to meet us and to know what goes on in this community.”
