A spokesman for the Des Moines Police Department says a man dropped off a baby at a family medical clinic this morning and said the boy was just born at a bus stop. Sergeant Jason Halifax say the newborn baby was transferred to Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines and is in good health.
The man left the clinic shortly after dropping off the baby and the case is now being handled by the Iowa Department of Human Services. “At this point, there really doesn’t appear to be any criminal issues with what’s happened,” Halifax said. Iowa’s Safe Haven law allows parents to give up custody of babies ages 14 days or younger with no questions asked.
Police aren’t sure if this baby was actually born at a bus stop and Halifax isn’t sure if they’ll find out. “Really, the only concern we have right now would be the mother and her condition,” Halifax said. “Certainly, giving birth without medical help, there are plenty of things that could go wrong, that can create issues.”
The Safe Haven law was passed in 2001 following a case where a young eastern Iowa girl killed her child shortly after it was born. Since then, the state’s Safe Haven procedures have been utilized 19 times. In all cases, the babies were successfully adopted.