Baby Delivered and Left at Fire Station
I've read several articles where a mother has left her baby at a fire station under Safe Haven laws. This story has a new twist on this issue (from the Greeley Tribune).
FORT COLLINS -- Baby John Doe, born at a Fort Collins fire station Friday morning, remains in good condition at Poudre Valley Hospital.A woman walked into a Fort Collins fire station about 8 a.m. Friday saying she wanted to surrender her baby. Firefighters and paramedics had no idea they would have to help deliver the baby first. Within an hour, the mother had given birth and left, refusing other treatment.
I think the Safe Haven laws are a good thing because it allows a baby to be dropped off at a fire station, police station, or hospital without repercussions. This should reduce the number of babies abandoned in unsafe conditions.
However, I don't think fire stations are the proper place for mothers to deliver their babies. The fire station is certainly better than a hotel room or some other place that doesn't have emergency medical equipment, but it isn't nearly as good as the hospital. If this gets to be a regular practice, fire departments will have to put policies in place about transporting women in labor to the hospital.
