Newborn Left At Meriden Hospital Under Safe Havens Act

A newborn child was dropped off at early Monday morning, according to Meriden Police, and taken into the state child welfare system under Connecticut's Safe Havens Act.

An unidentified woman brought a baby girl into the Meriden Hospital's Emergency Room at about 4 a.m. and left her with hospital staff, police said Monday. She reportedly said she knew the mother, but was not the mother of the child. 

The baby is 8 pounds 12 ounces and healthy, police said. Staff believes that she was born between midnight and 2 a.m. Monday, but said they do not know where the child was born, according to police.

Under the state's Safe Havens Act, parents can relinquish custody of a child who is 30 days old or under to emergency room staff without being arrested for abandonment.

"At this time, all agencies involved with this investigation are pleased to say that Connecticut’s Safe Haven Law was designed for instances just such as this," Meriden Police spokesman Sgt. Darrin McKay said in a statement Monday. "This is a perfect example of how this law can protect newborn children and safeguard the privacy of the mother of the child."

Though both Meriden and state police were called in, because there were no signs of abuse to the child as per the law the organizations will not be performing a criminal investigation, McKay said.

Police ask that the baby's mother seek medical aid if she needs it.

The Safe Havens Act became effective in 2000, according to the Conn. Department of Children and Families (DCF). The girl dropped off today is the 14th child delivered to an emergency room in this manner and the first at MidState Hospital, according to DCF.

Two children were dropped off in 2011, two in 2009, two in 2008, one in 2007, and one in 2006. One of the children in 2009 was dropped off at nearby Middlesex Hospital.

Since the law went into effect, the department says four babies have been abandoned in other places, the last in 2006. All have survived, two were adopted out and two now live with relatives. A Danbury teenager was separately arrested and charged in 2007 in the death of a newborn.

Those looking for more information on Safe Havens can call the state's infoline at 2-1-1 and read DCF's page on the act in both English and Spanish HERE.

Last Updated Mon. 12:06 p.m.