SIMPSON COUNTY, Miss. ( WJTV ) – Simpson General Hospital in Mendenhall held a blessing ceremony for a device intended to reduce the abandonment of infants .
The Safe Haven Baby Box, located at the back of the hospital by the ER entrance, is the first of its kind at an emergency services hospital and healthcare facility in the state. Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Andy Gipson (R-Miss.) was part of the ceremony and has high hopes for what the box can do.
“I pray this baby box will be used in a mighty way and that many lives will be rescued,” Gipson said in a press release .
The device, now in operation, is the state’s second baby box. Mississippi House Bill 1318 , which became law last year, allows parents to give up custody of their newborn children anonymously in devices like Safe Haven Baby Boxes. Similar laws exist in 15 other states.
2 are in custody in Mississippi after baby girl is found abandoned behind dumpsters
Monica Kelsey started Safe Haven Baby Boxes, Inc. after learning she was abandoned as an infant. Part of the company’s logo is a footprint of the last infant who died from child abandonment in Indiana. An infant in North Mississippi was found behind a dumpster the same day as the blessing ceremony in Mendenhall. Marshall County authorities announced Friday that two persons of interest were taken into custody.