Tennessee church reaches out to women in crisis with Safe Haven Baby Box

As of July 2022, Secret Safe Place for Newborns of Tennessee says more than 100 babies have been surrendered to facilities in Tennessee since the law was enacted, the Knoxville News-Sentinel reported.
Celebrating the new Safe Haven Baby Box in Atoka are, from left, Bill Scott, fire chief; Monica Kelsey, SHBB CEO; Town of Atoka Mayor Barry Akin, town mayor; and Jeff Gautney, Gateway Baptist Church.
(Photo courtesy of Baptist and Reflector)

Tennessee church reaches out to women in crisis with Safe Haven Baby Box

The officials of Atoka, Tennessee, and the congregation of Gateway Baptist Church have a message for pregnant women who find themselves in desperate situations: We care about you.

Atoka mayor Barry Akin and the board of aldermen recently partnered with Gateway Baptist Church to place a Safe Haven Baby Box at the town’s fire station. The box, which became operational after a ribbon-cutting in early November provides a safe place for a woman in crisis to surrender her newborn baby within two weeks of life, explained Jeff Gautney, Gateway’s missions and family pastor.

RELATED: Learn more here about how baby box devices are impacting lives.

“Most people may not be aware that Tennessee has a Safe Haven Law,” Gautney explained. Passed in 2001, this law allows mothers of newborns to surrender unharmed babies within two weeks of birth to designated facilities without fear of prosecution.

As of July 2022, Secret Safe Place for Newborns of Tennessee says more than 100 babies have been surrendered to facilities in Tennessee since the law was enacted, the Knoxville News-Sentinel reported. Tennessee currently has 10 Safe Haven Baby Boxes across the state.

To read full story, click here.

For those wanting to learn more, call or text the Safe Haven crisis hotline at 1-866-99BABY1 or visit https://www.shbb.org/parents-in-crisis.

EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was Ann Lovell and originally published by Baptist and Reflector.

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