South Nassau provides a Safe Haven

South Nassau Communities Hospital received the “Torch of Life Award” from the (Ambulance Medical Technician) Children of Hope Foundation on Dec. 18, because of the work it has done as a Safe Haven, or a place where women can relinquish their newborn children knowing the child will be taken care of.

“The program itself helps mothers,” said Mary Liz Simmons-Sherlock, the Nurse Manager at Perinatal Services at SNCH. “Either being able to choose to relinquish their infant or will help them with parenting or will help them with adoption.”

Timothy Jaccard, a Nassau County Police Department paramedic, founded the AMT Children of Hope Foundation in 1998 in response to a number of deceased newborns discovered in our communities. The organization provides dignified burials for innocent children lost to abandonment, and is committed to ending such tragedies. It also operates a 24/7 emergency hotline to offer assistance to individuals who are pregnant and have nowhere to turn.

In 2000, Jaccard helped author the Safe Haven bill that was passed in New York State, providing women with an option to relinquish an infant at a hospital, fire station, police station or with any responsible individual with no legal repercussions. This year 17 newborns have been received at local hospitals or fire stations.

SNCH received the “Torch of Life Award” for their years of service and help to one particular patient. “The patient felt extremely supported by our staff and I believe that we are receiving this award because of the efforts,” said Simmons-Sherlock. “The team efforts that were put into place in order to help this patient make the decision to relinquish her baby at the time. That patient herself felt well supported and the program did exactly what it needed to do.”

The latest mothers were in their late teens and early twenties, said Jaccard, but he has seen a wide range of ages. “The youngest we have helped was 12 years old,” he said. “And the oldest was 49.” Some mothers drop them off, some leave them on a stoop or steps, some actually come into hospital but leave without the child.”

Jaccard said most of the babies are fostered out, however the foster parents understand the birth mother or father may decide to claim the child. When a child is abandoned into the program an announcement is published in newspapers, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children notified, in an effort to find the father, who has rights to the child under the law, or the child’s family. If the father does come forth a DNA test is preformed.