By Joel Marino
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel
LAUDERHILL, Fla. — Broward Sheriff firefighter Steffen Majer thought the young woman who parked her car by his station Thursday morning was about to ask for directions.
Instead, she handed him a 3-day-old girl swaddled in a blanket and asked if he could take care of her.
“I immediately told her she was making the right decision,” Majer said. “I wasn’t there to pass judgment.”
Officials say the baby is the 19th since 2000 saved in Broward County through the state’s Safe Haven for Newborns program. The program allows parents to drop off unharmed babies less than 7 days old at any hospital emergency room or staffed fire-rescue station without fear of prosecution.
“This is an excellent solution for mothers. We want them to know, here is an alternative to placing children in Dumpsters,” said Greg Holness, assistant chief for Broward Sheriff Fire-Rescue.
More babies are dropped off at safe points or abandoned in alleys or trash bins in Broward County than in any other Florida county, said Nick Silverio, founder of the Safe Haven for Newborns program.
The baby dropped off at the Lauderhill station is being cared for at Plantation General Hospital, authorities said.
Silverio said her mother has 30 days to reclaim her; at the end of that time, the infant will be handed over to a private adoption agency.
Officials don’t know if the woman who left the baby at the station is the newborn’s mother.
“She spoke in the third person and asked if a girl had a baby, where would she be able to drop her off,” Majer said. “I told her she was dropping the child at the right place.”
Copyright 2008 South Florida Sun-Sentinel