Safe Delivery for Newborns

Safe Delivery for Newborns Laws

All 50 states have passed laws designed to protect newborn children from injury and death caused by abandonment and exempts a relinquishing parent from prosecution, according to certain guidelines. Instead of abandoning an unwanted baby, a parent can hand an uninjured baby to someone who is on duty at an officially designated Safe Delivery location, without fear of prosecution for abandonment.

Safe Delivery allows parents to safely surrender their newborn child no more than 72 hours old to an employee who is inside and on duty at any hospital, fire department, police station, or by calling 911. This program is a safe, legal and anonymous alternative to abandonment or infanticide and releases the newborn for placement with an adoptive family. For drop off locations in Monroe, please click the link below.

People are encouraged to call the Safe Delivery Hotline at 866.733.7733 if they are considering abandoning their child. Help Line staff are prepared to answer their questions.

For more information on the Safe Delivery Law, FAQs for parents, service providers, or educators, please go to the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services.