A newborn was “safely surrendered” to a Safe Haven Baby Box in Atoka, Tennessee, officials said.

The baby was surrendered to the baby box at Fire Station No. 1 on Atoka-McLaughlin Drive, Fox13 reported last week. Officials said the infant was in “good health” when first responders retrieved the baby from the device.

“The [mother] chose a safe, legal, and anonymous option to protect the life of this child,” the fire department said. “No identifying information is required when using a Safe Haven Baby Box, and the law protects individuals who safely surrender an infant from criminal prosecution.” 

The surrender was the first at that Safe Haven Baby Box location, according to the report. 

Baby boxes were created to deter parents from abandoning their newborns, potentially leaving them to die. Baby boxes are temperature-controlled incubators often built into exterior walls of fire stations, police stations, and hospitals, and can be accessed from inside. At-risk mothers can safely and legally place their newborns inside. Then, the outside door locks, and mothers have time to get away before an alarm goes off, alerting first responders or hospital staff inside.

The baby is then quickly removed and sent to a hospital for a wellness check. From there, the baby is usually placed into state custody and often quickly adopted.

Under Tennessee’s Safe Haven law, unharmed newborns up to 45 days old may be surrendered to baby boxes as well as in person to hospitals, fire stations, EMS providers, and police stations, according to the Safe Haven Baby Boxes organization. 

The organization launched nine years ago in Indiana and has expanded nationwide with at least 400 locations. More than 70 newborns have been surrendered to baby boxes across the United States, according to the organization. Safe Haven Baby Boxes also says it has assisted 150 people with safe surrenders to other safe haven locations.

Safe Haven Baby Boxes has a confidential National Safe Haven Hotline, 1-866-99BABY1, that provides free counseling and information about safe surrenders, including face-to-face surrenders.

Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.