Baby Dump!
 

Someone just called to warn me that they were taking advantage of the new law and dropping off an unwanted baby (my office is in a fire department).

Everyone is out of the station, and I have no fucking idea what to do.

Oh dear.

Is there really a law that says that unwanted babies can be dumped like garbage at any public office?

Yes, there is. I believe it includes city halls, police stations, and fire stations. I support that law - it's better than a dumpster - but not when it occurs while I'm at work.

Babies are my kryptonite.

I can see the good side of that law, but...

They should find some way of forcing sterilsation upon both the parents of the unwanted child when they dump it.

Apparently you need to squeeze its foot to make sure its alive, wrap it in a blanket or something warm, and get it to a baby unit or a doctor quick [EDIT - I've just read that the baby will be less than three days old - make that fucking quick]. I guess it might be a good idea to get some baby formula milk and a feeding bottle too, just in case it hasn't been fed. Failing that, just try not to drop it.

Where's Pookie when we need him most?

Indeed!

You'd be surprised how complicated it is when an emergency is brought directly to the fire department. You'd expect things to be expedited, but you have to go through this ridiculous process of calling dispatch centers to send alarms out.

I don't even know where the goddamn blankets are in this place. This isn't my forte.

Apparently, this is not some blanketly forgiving law. There are all kinds of requirements that must be filled, like:

- it can't be judged to be more than 7 days old (like I'll know)
- it has to be dropped off by someone you judge to be the biological parent (to prevent kidnapping, etc.; how in the hell are you supposed to tell that? Does she have to have the umbilical cord trailing out of her?)
- it cannot be abandoned; it has to be presented to a uniformed employee (which I am not, so in that case, what do you do? What if they simply drop it and run?)

I'm going to either unintentionally kill this child, or get someone sued. I am all for that sterilization.

It doesn't sound like you're a person they're legally allowed to dump the baby on then. Can't you get a policeman to come over and do the receiving? Or just hide under your desk?

If you do end up holding the baby, so to speak, I'd say you should wrap it in a coat or a jumper to keep it warm, and, in the absence of proper baby feeding materials, occasionally feed it small amounts of water from a spoon to make sure it doesn't get dehydrated.

Thanks, Daddy (while in jest, I am seriously thankful for your advice).

Anyhow, this is a good segue into the feelings of others on this law. Approve? Disapprove? Questions? Comments?

I don't really understand why fire stations should be made to handle stuff like that? What's wrong with child services?

It's only fair to warn you that my advice is based upon a TV programme that I once saw where a piglet was rejected by its mother :eek:

To be honest, piglet babies are higher in the hierarchy to me than human ones, anyhow.

Population control, people.

Is it there yet? I have to decide whether to go home or wait and see what happens.

I just got the call that it was on its way, but I wouldn't wait - there aren't that many exciting outcomes. I'm more interested to see the emotional state of the mother; she was having someone else call on her behalf, so I can't imagine it will be that great. I'll let you know if I jeopardize anyone's life.

"Let's drop it off at the fire station!"

holy shit. poor kid.

No answer... Is it possible that truncated has decided to adopt it?
I hope that she knows how to use a milk expresser.

Ha!

I don't like children. Unless I can give them back, and even then, only a select few enter my good graces. I do not blanketly find babies cute. I find their squalling, evacuation of bodily wastes, and dependency highly unappealing. Is this their fault? No. However, I would certainly never saddle myself with such a burden, in hopes of my nonexistent maternal instincts "kicking in." The problem with American society is the thoughtlessness with which many bear children, and the readiness to unload the responsibility of their development upon society/other individuals when the realization that they were not suited to bear human life descends upon them.

Which is to say, I am one of those people that is far too selfish to have kids; the difference is, I know it, and it is therefore an impossibility.

Hence, the chastity belt.

I must say, that I find it quite sad when I look around me and see 16 year old teenage girls pushing prams. They can barely look after themselves, let alone their own offspring. Most of them still live at home, sponging off their mothers who in a lot of cases, are divorced. The same mistakes get made over and over again, with no lessons learnt. What's worse is noticing that the kids fathers are nowhere in sight.

I'm afraid that this is in more drastic need of education, than sterilization.

holy shit
i think this was a episode of Law and Order SVU once.
what the fuck are you gonna do Truncy?
bring it to the coppers ASAP

so did it turn up then?

If anyone strikes me as being someone who would end up married to a cop and have kids with him + a little puppy,that's you.

my initial reaction to someone about to leave a baby in my office would not be to post about it on the sy forum and call a hospital. thats what i grasp from this thread i cant really see much about it as i have the mentally ill on ignore.

Anyhow...

Since I'm sure you were all dying to know, they did drop the baby off (and for informational purposes, I wouldn't call the hospital - we ARE the first point of contact/dropoff, and we send the baby to the hospital after receiving it). My only concern was that I had to call a paramedic back here when they arrived, as you have to give the child to a uniformed firefighter/paramedic, and I worried that instead of waiting for the medic to arrive, they would just leave the baby and flee. There would be all kinds of legal issues there; it's not like I could physically stop them from leaving, but by not leaving the child with a uniform, they're breaking the law.

So, I only had about ten minutes with the thing, which was frightening enough, as it was a day old, and crying ferociously. The ambulance then came back and transported it to the hospital where, as Kegmama's article somewhat describes, it goes through a bit of bureaucratic rigamarole prior to being placed for adoption.

I would have pitied it, but as Tokolosh pointed out, the prospective life of a child in such incapable hands is quite dire. Chances are, it will be much better off, whatever situation it ends up in. I have mixed feelings about this law; loosely similar to the discussions on legalization of drugs and prostitution, there are different sides to the coin on the effects this may have. I'd prefer babies to be left on fire station doorsteps rather than immersed in last night's trash, but does this state-sanctioned "easy out" encourage carelessness in birth control?

"Did you bring a condom? Ah, fuck it, the cop station's right around the corner."

Well, the nine-month wait followed by excruciating labor makes the "careless birth control" thing seem like a non-issue. That's what we have RU-486 for, remember?
It does make flaking out easier, but this kind of desperation is rare in any case. I have a feeling you won't be dealing with this situation again any time in the foreseeable future.

You'd be surprised; this is the third time in about 8 months.

And while your theory is logical to me, enough people as it is seem willing to tolerate/dismiss the minor annoyance of extreme, prolonged physical discomfort for one good screw, so I wouldn't put anything past that ilk.

Wow.
I had no idea.
Society is even more fucked up than I thought, and I already thought it was pretty fucked up.

the law states that any person who has an unwanted baby for whatever reason can drop off the baby with a police station or a fire station and no questions will eb asked, nor will they be prosecuted.

this is a result of so many women and girls dumping babies in dumpsters or in garbage cans in alleys or just leaving them on doorsteps.

It is harsh but it is a decent solution i think.

that way child protective srervices can get involved before the baby suffers any damage.