Harris County debuts its first Safe Haven Baby Box, allowing safe, anonymous newborn surrender at Tomball Fire Station 5.
TOMBALL, Texas — Harris County now has its first Safe Haven Baby Box, offering parents in crisis a safe and anonymous way to surrender a newborn.
On Tuesday, Tomball Fire Station 5 held a blessing ceremony for the new device, which was installed under Texas’ Baby Moses Law. The law allows parents to legally surrender infants at designated locations without facing criminal charges.
The climate-controlled baby boxes are designed to protect infants and alert first responders the moment a child is placed inside. Once the door is shut, alarms notify firefighters, who immediately respond to secure the newborn.
“This box offers no shame, no blame, and no names,” said founder and CEO of Safe Haven Baby Boxes, Monica Kelsey. “Is it needed? Yes. Do we hope it’s used? No. But this gives mothers an option in a very difficult moment.”
Getting the baby box in Tomball took nearly a year of work. It was made possible through a partnership between Harris County Emergency Service District 15, the city of Tomball, and more than $30,000 raised by St. Matthias Catholic Church to cover installation, alarms, and training.
City leaders say the box was intentionally placed away from traffic to give mothers as much privacy as possible.
Safe Haven Baby Boxes first launched in Indiana in 2016 and have since saved dozens of infants nationwide. With Tomball’s installation and another set to open Wednesday at Magnolia Fire Station 181, southeast Texas will now have three of the life-saving devices.
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