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Mother uses safe haven law, gives infant to Iowa hospital

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June 17th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — State officials say they have used Iowa’s safe haven law to take custody of a newborn baby whose mother turned over care of the girl to a hospital. The Department of Human Services announced Friday the infant was given to an Iowa hospital June 7 and then released to the custody of the state agency.

It’s the 26th time the law has been used to turn over care of an infant since it was approved following a 2001 case, in which a teenage mother in eastern Iowa killed her home-delivered newborn. The state didn’t specify the city where the baby was given to the hospital. Iowa law allows parents to hand over custody of babies up to 14 days old without fear of prosecution.