Just a day after officials released new video of a mother who abandoned her baby at the Tucson International Airport - many are wondering if the airport was the safest place.
Andrew Skaggs with the Tucson Fire Department says the safest place to abandon your newborn baby is a Baby Safe Haven.
Baby Safe Havens is a place where a mother can drop off her newborn up to 72 hours old with no questions asked.
The law also protects a mother from facing criminal charges for physically handing over her unharmed newborn baby.
While many people think the unknown woman who decided to abandon a newborn baby at the Tucson International Airport in January was a better alternative than harming the child - by law she's not necessarily cleared from charges.
"The better alternative was a baby safe haven for so many reasons," says Skaggs. Adding, "the baby will never be unsupervised, and there will always be someone caring for that child, so there's never a chance that they will be abandoned or alone for any amount of time."
Tonight on @kgun9 - where can mother drop off her baby without being criminally charged? And how can a baby safe haven prevent a baby from going into foster care... more at 6. pic.twitter.com/UCDL1JOKn2
— Jennifer Martinez (@Jennymartineztv) February 7, 2018
Once a mother leaves her baby at a safe haven - the baby is taken to a medical facility to be evaluated. The baby would then be placed in a home within 48 hours.
"If the baby is abandoned in some place other than a safe haven location they don't fall into the law which is then going to put the baby in child protective service."
The newborn baby boy found at the airport in January is now in the custody of the Arizona Department of Child Safety until he gets a forever home.
Skaggs says, "had the child been dropped in a safe haven location - it would have given the child the opportunity to have a new start in life with a new family very quickly."
Baby safe haven locations include fire stations, hospitals, ambulance or designated adoption agencies and churches.
If you're a mother in distress - contact the Baby Safe Haven hotline at 866-707-2229.
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