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Editor's note: This is Part 1 of a two-part story on Utah's Safe Haven law.SALT LAKE CITY — A plaque by the doors to the emergency room at University Hospital reads “Utah Newborn Safe Haven.”
“You can bring in an infant anytime. You can hand it to us, no questions asked, we’ll take care of that baby,” said Jamie Troyer, clinical nurse coordinator for the emergency department.
Troyer says every nurse and doctor is trained on what to do next.
“We make sure the baby is OK, check them over medically. We offer help to the mom, but they can walk out the door, run out the door, we don’t stop them.”
In the Emergency Department at LDS Hospital, Dr. Craig Marsden offers the same training, same reassurances.
“We are equipped to take the baby in, assess them, make sure (they are) OK, then get in touch with DCFS. They can do it anonymously,” Marsden said.
Also, the law says a newborn can be given to any hospital employee.
On the fourth floor of LDS Hospital is the Labor and Delivery Department, where another plaque proclaims the Utah Newborn Safe Haven law. Nurse manager Melanie Longborn says a woman or girl could even give birth at the hospital under a fake name and walk away. It’s been done before.
You can bring in an infant anytime. You can hand it to us, no questions asked, we'll take care of that baby.
–Jamie Troyer
“I’ve heard of sad scenarios where they don’t drop the baby off and the baby doesn’t make it, and it’s just heartbreaking,” Longborn said.
These healthcare workers have not personally dealt with a Safe Haven baby, but Nicole Nielsen has.
“I actually responded out on a couple of cases where babies were dropped off at the hospital,” Nielsen said.
She works for the Utah Department of Child and Family Services. As soon as it gets the call about a baby being relinquished, a case worker responds, day or night.
“If there’s any medical issues going on they need to stay in the hospital until resolved. But if baby is healthy, and everything is good, we like to get the baby into a home as soon as possible,” Nielsen added.
Even in the middle of the night.
“We have homes on the list we can call immediately and take the child directly to them,” Nielsen explained.
And that home is the baby’s new home, where adoption proceedings begin.
“I can tell you, there are a lot of people who want those infants. No need to worry about that,” said state Rep. Patrice Arent, who sponsored the newborn Safe Haven law in 2001
“I will never forget the calls I got when I was trying to pass the law. Women would call in the middle of the night and say, ‘I did this years ago, I put my baby in a dumpster and have been living with the guilt for years.’ " Arent said.
Arent, and those nurses and doctors on the front lines have a message about the law for someone considering abandoning or harming her baby.
“Anonymous, anonymous, anonymous. It's just the most important word,” Arent said.
