Covenant Childrens Hospital opens Lubbock's newest Safe Haven Baby Box

The Covenant Health System blessed Texas’s eighth, ninth and tenth Safe Haven Baby Boxes in a ceremony Thursday morning, June 26.

Each box offers a safe, anonymous way for a parent to surrender a baby if they are not in the circumstances to care for it, said Dr. Lara Johnson, Covenant Health's chief medical officer.

“We want to meet our community where they are and help in all circumstances,” Johnson said. “It’s so important to our mission to care for the poor and vulnerable, and these baby boxes help us do just that.”

Each baby box is equipped with a cushioned cradle and maintains a doctor-recommended temperature of 85 degrees. Once the infant is closed inside the box, the exterior door cannot be opened again until the child is removed.

The box’s alarm system operates with a 60-second delay to protect the surrendering parent’s anonymity. Jessi Getrost, executive assistant for Safe Haven Baby Boxes, said babies remain in the box, at most, for two-and-a-half minutes before they are recovered.

Once the infant is recovered, medically assessed and cared for, they are then released into adoption or foster care programs.

The first Safe Haven Baby Box in the United States was built in 2016 after founder Monica Kelsey visited Cape Town, South Africa, and found her first “baby box” in the side of a church. Channeling this need to end child abandonment, she returned to the States and built the first box in Indiana.

Since the first box’s establishment in Indiana, Getrost said no infant abandonments have been reported in the state.

“The system does work. We just have to get there,” Getrost said. “And, you know, Texas is so vast, we have a little bit bigger of an area to cover, but we have faith that we'll get there.”

Safe Haven Baby Boxes currently have locations in 23 states, and Getrost herself said she has been present at 150 baby box blessings.

Thursday's blessing brings the nationwide total to 353 baby boxes. One of the three new additions is located at Lubbock’s Covenant Children’s Hospital, while the other two are at the system's hospitals in Plainview and Levelland.

Lubbock’s Fire Station 9 and the Wolfforth Fire Station also offer Safe Haven Baby Boxes.

Texas’s Safe Haven law allows parents to anonymously surrender infants up to 60 days old at designated locations — specifically hospitals, fire stations, emergency medical services stations or police stations — without legal consequences.

“We hope that one day we can end abandonment in this country,” Getrost said. “But we want to thank any parent who has already utilized our box. We know that's going to be the hardest decision of your life … .”

Johnson emphasized that these boxes are only effective and beneficial to a community if they are used, and spreading the word for parents in crisis is essential.

“You're not going to be in trouble. We have that legal protection in place. Someone's going to take care of the baby,” Johnson said.

Josh McDonald, a chaplain with Covenant Health, closed the blessing ceremony with a Bible reading and a prayer of thanks and hope, asking that the box will “provide a refuge for those in need.”

“May this box serve as a never-ending reminder that every single life is precious and valued in your sight, oh Lord,” McDonald prayed. “And as we close, we dedicate this box and the work done here to your care, trusting that through it you provide safety, comfort and futures filled with possibilities.”

For parents in crises, the organization also operates a confidential national hotline at 1-866-99BABY1.