Hours-old newborn safely surrendered to Baton Rouge-area fire department

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) -- A woman surrendered her newborn baby, estimated to be 1 to 3 hours old, to the St. George Fire Department on Sunday.

A woman called the fire department around 2 a.m. and said she wanted to surrender her newborn baby girl and hand her off to a woman working at the department. A female communications officer met the woman in the parking lot, and the mother handed her the infant through the car window, according to St. George Fire spokesperson Eldon Ledoux.

"A healthy new-born baby girl’s life was saved by a mother who loved the child enough to want a better life for her baby girl than perhaps she is able to provide at this point in her own life," Ledoux wrote in a press release.

St. George Fire paramedics examined the baby, who was crying and breathing normally. She was transported to Woman's Hospital.

"That little girl will never know it, but her mother gave her life twice early Sunday morning," Ledoux wrote.

All fire departments are "Safe Baby Sites," meaning mothers can anonymously and safely surrender their infants to fire departments.

"It takes courage for a new mom to take that step, but it’s taken with love, kindness and caring in a world where all too often we read of tragic outcomes where newborns are simply discarded," Ledoux wrote.

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