COLORADO
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~2695452,00.html

Sunday, February 06, 2005
Metro / regional briefs

Newborn dropped off with firefighters
A newborn boy was dropped off at a Thornton fire station Thursday afternoon by
a mother who had just given birth.

Colorado's Safe Haven Law allows parents to leave their newborns at a fire
station or a hospital if they do not want them so that the babies are not
abandoned.

The boy, about four to six hours old, was taken to North Suburban Medical
Center in stable condition, said Thornton Fire Department Emergency Medical
Services administrator Tom Pedigo.

The baby is in the custody of the state.

Firefighters were performing training exercises when a woman in her 20s
appeared and said she wanted to give up her baby for adoption, Pedigo said.

The mother was taken to a hospital in case of health complications and was in
stable condition.

> The mother was taken to a hospital in case of health complications and was in stable condition.


The mother dumped her child at a Safe Haven to avoid being identified as the
mother but then was taken to a hospital for treatment, probably the same one
her child went to. It is good that both mother and child were taken care of
but by accepting medical care the mother has blown her cover or did the
hospital agree to treat her anonymously?.Has it ever occurred to anyone that
by providing no-fault dump sites that new mothers might avoid proper post
natal care for fear of being exposed? While I am looking at this issue, what
is to prevent an overzealous mother, midwife, social worker or friend from
simply taking a newborn off to a safe haven dump site and then simply
telling the mother "your baby died, sorry"?

Raymond