What would you do in this situation? One morning, Wei stepped outside of her office. She saw a large plastic storage bin. Wei believed it was just some trash left outside, that was until she heard a sound coming from it. There was a newborn baby girl left inside. She was bundled in blankets with half a bag of milk powder. Whoever left her behind had taken the time to make her as comfortable as possible.
According to People's Daily China: "Passersby soon gathered around the baby girl. Some tried to shield her from the sun, while others went to fetch water for her, according to one witness who works near the spot where the baby was found. The baby kept crying, which most people guessed was because she was hungry."
That's when a young mother stepped up from the crowd. What she did left everyone in awe…
One day, Wei, from Xianyang City, China, stepped outside of her office building. She saw a storage box and assumed it was trash. Then she heard the sound of a whimper. Inside was a newborn baby girl. She was covered in blankets and had half a bag of milk. Onlookers crowded the baby who was crying out in hunger.
As people gathered, one young mother took initiative. She took the baby into her arms, lifted her blouse, and began to breastfeed the hungry child. The baby instantly stopped crying after being nourished from the impromptu wet nurse. The woman held her until child welfare services arrived to safely retrieve the baby.
While we are in awe of the crowd and this young mom who stepped up to care for the child, it reminds us of how lucky we are here in the United States to have Safe Haven Laws for mothers, like this child's mother, who are unable to care for their newborns.
A shining example of having Safe Havens in place is another baby left by her mother: Halle Burke.
Safe Haven Laws allow parents to turn over their children in "baby boxes" or other specified locations without any questions asked. These laws protect the very often distressed mothers from facing penalties, and the children from being abandoned or left for dead.
Under Colorado’s Safe Haven Law, parents can bring babies up to 3 days old to a fire station or hospital — no questions asked. It was this law that brought baby Halle to her adoptive parents.
Julie and John Burke were having issues conceiving and adopting for years. When they received a phone call from a family friend about “the little girl left in the Safe Haven Baby Box,” they knew it was fate.
“Oh my gosh, there’s a baby left at a fire station,” Julie recalls. “She was so tiny and the biggest thing on her were these big, beautiful, brown eyes.”
Julie and John happily adopted Halle. Halle is now 12 years old, and she has always known where she came from and who saved her. The young girl has recently wrote a book thanking her mother for turning her over the right way and giving her a wonderful family.
To learn more about Safe Haven Laws, please watch the video below.
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If you or someone you know is in need of a Safe Haven, please call 1-888-510-BABY.
