In 2021, Live Action News reported that Maine lawmakers had voted to allow the installation of Safe Haven Baby Boxes in the state. Fire Chief Chris Reed is planning for his fire station to be the first to house a baby box in Maine.
As the station in Rumford constructs a new and improved building, they’re making room for this baby box, which will allow newborns up to 31 days old to be left in the care of first responders.
In Rumford, high risk behaviors like drug use, poverty, and decreasing family support make this baby box very needed.
“It’s a prime location,” Reed said. “There’s not a lot of services here that would be available to a newborn mother in Rumford.”
The town hospital closed down its maternity ward in February of 2023. Further explaining Rumford’s need for a baby box, Reed explained that placing a baby in the box is a much better option than “in bad conditions, left alone in a car… It’s a last-minute option to give the mother an option to place the baby in a safe location.”
Once a newborn has been placed in the box, the door locks for security, and the baby can only be retrieved by a first responder. In an interview with WGME, Reed explained what immediate care is given when a baby is left in the box: “As soon as the baby’s in there, we would take the baby, maintain its life and get Med-Care, the ambulance service, and take it to Rumford Community Hospital.”
A silent alarm sounds when the box is first opened by a parent; once the box closes, the fire station staff will be notified via page as well as another alarm.
READ: Infant surrendered in Indiana marks 17th Safe Haven Baby Box save this year
Commenters on WGME’s news article show mixed responses, with some praising the installation and others claiming that a baby box “reward[s] bad behavior” and places children in the line of “abuse in foster care” or “trafficking.” But another commenter cut to the core of the issue, writing, “So sad that this even has to be a thing.” While it is indeed sad, many courageous parents have chosen to offer their children a chance at life by leaving them with first responders instead of abandoning them to die.
Although the Safe Haven Baby Boxes were allowed in Maine starting in 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services has yet to put a set of rules in place to regulate the process of care and home placement for the infants.
Rumford Representative Rachel Henderson (R) stated, “At times, rule-making can take time. But when we’re talking about the lives of children and newly born babies, time is of the essence.” Henderson has taken the initiative to start a petition for the people of Rumford to voice their need for the DHHS to follow through with their duty and create rules for how these infants will be placed in homes. As of March 11th, over 180 signatures had been gathered.
“When we explained what the signatures were for, we didn’t get one person who wasn’t willing to sign… The time has come. The stars are aligning and it’s time for rulemaking to be put in place,” said Henderson.
Senator Lisa Keim (R) of Dixfield added, “This could save a tragedy from happening.”
DHHS has previously stated they will publish the rules at some point in 2024.
