A few days ago, a woman placed her 2 week old baby girl on the train tracks and ran away. Thankfully within minutes, two city workers who were nearby saw the infant and safely removed her from the tracks.
Who’s to say why the woman chose to do this. The reasoning is of little importance in the grand scheme of things. Whether she was drugged up or did this while perfectly coherent, is beside the point. Whatever the reason was, she obviously didn’t want the baby.
Before writing this, I went to the National Safe Haven Alliance website to look up what the law was for her state, in regard to dropping off unwanted babies. The law for her state of residence is: “You can leave your baby, up to 3 days old, with a hospital staff member who engages in the admission, care, or treatment of patients at any hospital, or with a fire fighter at any fire station.”
It might be a wild guess, but I would assume that if she didn’t want the baby after two weeks, she probably didn’t want her since day 1. Why then, did she not utilize this service and give her baby up to a responsible adult before that 3 day time limit? It’s not like she didn’t have time to research this prior to having the baby. I found the Safe Haven information within 1 minute. She had at least 7 months (that’s if she delivered early). Even after the 3 day limit, a hospital would have happily taken that baby. Why then did she instead, attempt to kill that precious new life she was holding?
Even more of a question is, why did she not give the baby up for adoption in the first place? There are thousands of people out there who would love to have a baby, but can’t. There are also thousands out there who would happily take in another child to give them a good life and a successful future.
It baffles me how someone could just throw their baby away. If a person doesn’t want the precious child that they’ve been given, then that’s fine. But, they should never take away that child’s chance at life. There is absolutely no excuse for that. Who are they to sentence that innocent child to death? People can be so unbelievably selfish.
Every single child deserves a life, a good home and a future. No one has the right to take that away.
National Safe Haven Alliance
“Each state has a law in place to allow an unharmed infant to be relinquished to the proper authorities, no questions asked.” The time frame for dropping off unwanted babies ranges from 3 days up to 1 year, after the birth of the child. To find your state’s specific details, click the link below.
http://www.nationalsafehavenalliance.org/states/
Or call – TOLL FREE CRISIS HOTLINE: 1-888-510-BABY (2229)
Life. We all deserve one.
Me - Who am I? 
I think that’s great you brought attention to the law. I never even considered there was such a law. I can only guess this woman couldn’t possibly have been in her right mind. The mind can be so debilitating sometimes and our misguided reasoning can lead us to do things most would consider mad. You are right though. There are so many people that would do anything for the opportunity to have a baby. Hopefully now, that baby will find a home that will welcome her with open arms.
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You’re right, a person’s mind, due to mental illness and/or drugs can greatly hinder their ability to make good choices. But, it would be hard for me to believe that there wasn’t at least a few sober times or mentally coherent days throughout the duration of her pregnancy. At the very least, someone who would have stepped up to help her. But, who knows. After all, look at our world. It’s a mess. I hope the same for that baby. A good home is waiting for her.
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It is a mess…
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I shudder at the thought of all of the people who throw away their babies. Whether they do it the way this woman did it, or do it be completing neglecting and abusing the children they keep. When there are people praying and begging to have children to love….there is no need for even one to go unloved or unwanted. Thank you.
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Yes however they do it, it’s wrong. No child should be abandoned, abused or neglected. These innocent children pay for their parents poor choices, which is completely uncalled for and unfair. No one should go unloved – I agree.
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In our state, there are “safe baby” drop zone signs all over the place. A lot of our convenience stores even are safe zones! You can’t go any where and not see that you have the safe zone for an option, and it’s great to keep spreading the word about it!
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That’s both great and very sad at the same time. It’s wonderful that they have signs everywhere, but it’s so sad that they need them everywhere. Even convenience stores? Wow… What’s disappointing, is that in my state I’ve not once seen a sign. I’m sure they exist, given that we have a Safe Haven law here, but I’ve not seen one.
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Maybe now you’ll start seeing them more often! It is very sad, but makes me feel better that there is a safer spot for the babies to be.
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Yes! I certainly hope so.
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She was simply testing the train to see if it was “pro-choice.”
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Terrible test. Don’t you think?
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Can’t imagine the reasoning behind leaving such a precious thing like that. It makes me sad. I hope the child lives a happy life.
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Neither can I. It’s such a sad situation all the way around.
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Whilst I have never understood how babies can be given away (or abused and killed), I wonder what possessed her to do this after 2 weeks. Did she do it regretfully and was pushed into it by someone or did she suddenly realise that things weren’t going to be as easy as she thought they might be? It is difficult to pass judgement without knowing the story however whatever the story is, it means a child is going to grow up without it’s natural parents.
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I agree with you, Suzanne. What demons is this woman struggling with so violently? By not addressing why she did it is making her out to not be on any value to anyone. It’s only through understanding that we can come to know the truth.
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What’s interesting is that I’m normally the one who gives people the benefit of a doubt. There must be a logical reason, right? But with this, it’s nearly impossible for me to fathom a reason as to why she had to go to this type of extreme. If she was being forced into getting rid of her baby or just felt that she could no longer take care of her, there are many other places she could have dropped the baby off. Doorsteps, a porch, a gas station. She could have even left the baby in a shopping cart in the parking lot of a 24 hr store and it would have been better than next to a train that could move at any moment. I’m not judging her. I’m judging her actions. I feel for her. She needs help and I hope she gets it. It’s just good that the baby will now (hopefully) be given a loving, caring home.
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I agree that it was extreme which leads me to wonder at her mental state.
It really is a sad story in all respects.
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It really is. It’s sad for everyone involved.
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The key to the success of a Baby Safe Haven law is the spreading of the basic information of the law among young people so that when faced with a crisis they will act on their knowledge. In New England we’ve found that young communicators are the best for this job. Many other states use older authority figures with less success. The key is to normalize the communication of the law among young people. This starts with young people discussing the laws together, and lead by a young spokesperson when necessary. If you know young person who wants to be a leader in this please have them contact us: babysafehaven@gmail.com The states and foundations around the country who are lead by 60+ year olds are soon to be looking for young communicators as they realize that their 60+ spokespersons are having limited success. Thank you in advance for your help.
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Jean and Mike,
Thank you for your comment. It does require the spreading of the information for this program to truly be effective. That’s one discouraging trend I’ve noticed since posting this. Many people either have never heard of the Safe Haven law or if they have they haven’t seen it publicized. How will anyone know if no one tells them? I’ve looked at the website your gravatar name linked me to, and I will gladly ask around to see if anyone would like to help with this. Perhaps as people around the nation read this, some will decide to spread the word as well. Thank you.
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My heart breaks for a mother who, whether because of mental illness (most likely, at least post partum depression) or some other reason felt the best possible option for her child was to die, to not have to live in this world anymore. I am glad the baby was rescued, and my heart also breaks for the child who will one day know that after two weeks, the woman who gave birth to them tried to kill them.
We vilify women who kill their children a lot; and well we should– murder is bad, regardless of who is being killed. But we also don’t do an exceptionally great job of ensuring that people have the mental health resources they need, or that mothers have support throughout their pregnancy and afterwards. It is completely conceivable that this mom wanted her baby until birth and just after, and then when she was on her own, in the throes of post partum depression and probably some other mental illness, with a baby she resented for taking away her sleep and her ability to feel like a normal human being, without knowledge of resources, perhaps even being cut off from some resources because other people were judging her for having a baby, looking around at a world that suddenly seemed designed to harm her child, that she decided the best option was to ensure that baby never had to grow up in that kind of life.
Safe Haven laws only work if they are well-publicized, and three days is a very short amount of time for someone struggling with post partum depression and/or another mental illness.
Sorry for the blog length comment!
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I agree with you. There should be more resources available for those with mental illness and for new mothers in general. Leaving them to fend for themselves can make them feel hopeless. So they make some terrible choices. As much as I understand that, it was still a choice she made. A horrible one. While I’m not trying to pass judgment on her, I am judging her actions. As I wrote in the comment to Suzjones below, the woman had many options. Several in fact, that would have been much better than placing the baby in an obvious life threatening situation.
You’re right about Safe Haven laws too. In my state, I’ve yet to see a ‘drop off’ sign and another commenter mentioned not knowing of the law at all. It must be publicized a great deal more than it currently is, in order to work. However, there are some places (as another commenter said) that have postings up all over about Safe Haven drop offs.
Regardless, more help, more information and more guidance needs to be given to those in need and even to those who show no signs of being in need. Some people never express it, but having the information in their hand would make a world of difference.
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I wholeheartedly agree her actions should be judged, and harshly, I just think it’s dangerous to judge the action without knowing the back story.
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You’re right. I agree.
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