When a surprise birth left a young mom and dad in a state of shock, store employees in Plano, Texas, took customer service to a new level by helping the apparently teenage couple to find a safe haven location for their newborn.
Angela Owens stood behind the counter of Hieline Mobility Solutions located off US-75 in Plano, Texas when a frantic man burst into the store asking for help for his newborn baby. Owens dashed out of the store to the man’s car where she saw a baby girl wrapped in a towel on the mother’s lap. She learned that the man’s girlfriend had unexpectedly given birth to a baby girl just an hour beforehand. She reportedly didn’t know she was pregnant and they were unsure what to do next.
Another store employee, Tabatha Peri, noticed the commotion and jumped in to help. She and Owens provided the couple with information on safe haven locations. Under Texas’ Safe Haven law, also known as the Baby Moses law, parents who are unable to care for their child can leave their unharmed baby with an employee at a designated safe place—a hospital, fire station, free-standing emergency centers or emergency medical services station—without any criminal repercussions.
According to WFAA, in the past five years, 175 children have been surrendered statewide through the program, including 28 since last September. Abandonment of a child is a criminal offense, but surrendering a child at a safe haven location anonymously is legal.
The story doesn’t end there. Seeing how frightened the young couple was, Owens and Peri—mothers themselves—helped to tie the umbilical cord and offered to take the baby to a safe haven location. They then called 911 and the baby was taken to the hospital. Both mother and baby received medical treatment, and the baby was described as healthy and with a full head of hair.
“I’m proud of them for asking for help,” Owens said. “That doesn’t happen all the time.”
Safe Haven laws help to curb the possibility of babies being abandoned. Sadly, such stories abound. Live Action News previously reported on the story of a 15-year-old girl in Houston who abandoned her newborn baby outdoors. Tragically, the baby later died.
Stories like this one of these heroic store employees show that situations where parents cannot provide for their babies do not have to end in tragedy. Each and every day, Safe Haven laws in place across the nation are helping to ensure babies are not abandoned and have a chance to thrive.
Visit the National Safe Haven Alliance to find baby safe haven locations across the United States.
