'Place the child inside and walk away.' The baby boxes where newborns are surrendered.

From the outside, the boxes don't look like much. 

They're installed inside recesses that are built into the exterior walls of hospitals, fire stations or other public-safety buildings. 

When you open them, a climate controlled, electronically monitored bassinet can be found.

They're 'baby boxes', where mothers can safely surrender their newborns. 

Once an infant is placed in the box and the door is shut, the box will immediately be locked from the outside, and a silent alarm will notify staff that a baby has been surrendered. The infant is attended to within five minutes.

Across the US, these baby boxes are readily used by mothers who are struggling for a variety of reasons. Some are scared. Some feel they can't care for their infant. Others are dealing with addiction, socioeconomic issues, or domestic violence. Some were unable to access abortion services or didn't wish to go down that path.

But they all share one thing in common — they want to give their infant a better and safer life. 

Watch: How the baby box works. Post continues below.

Pam Stenzel is the Development Director of Safe Haven Baby Boxes in America, a non-profit organisation that provides a safe and legal alternative to abandoning newborn babies. 18 US states have Safe Haven baby boxes, with over 230 of these boxes across those specific states.

Stenzel has had many roles across the organisation. One was answering calls from desperate mothers on the 24-hour hotline. 

"I've been working with women experiencing crisis pregnancies on many levels for 30 years. We're able to help women going through one of the most difficult moments of their lives and help them do the right thing and keep the baby safe," she tells Mamamia.

There are countless stories that have stuck with Stenzel.

One was a young woman who lived in a very rural area in Indiana.

"She called me at 2am on the hotline, having just delivered her baby and she wanted to find a baby box. At the time, she didn't have a baby box near her so we were talking through her options, like going to a fire station. But she didn't want to go through that."

What the young woman did instead was take the baby to a Walmart parking lot, call 911 and have the paramedics show up. She stayed there until the services arrived.

"The whole brigade showed up, including fire trucks and paramedics. When she handed her baby over to one of the firefighters, she recognised him right away. She had gone to high school with him," says Stenzel.

"This is the problem. Word easily spreads. That girl's life was over as she knew it. That case reminds me why anonymity matters in these moments, like with the Safe Haven baby boxes. These are not rash decisions being made by these mothers. If a woman is handing over her baby, she is obviously in extreme crisis."

Stenzel says the goal for first responders should be to just help these mothers surrender safely and legally, rather than abandoning their babies.

In London recently we saw the case of three siblings abandoned in city parks. Each of the infants had nearly died from the freezing cold conditions after being left in rubbish bags and towels late at night.

Baby boxes like these are scattered across the US. Image: Supplied/Safe Haven Baby Boxes. 

On the hotline, women often tell Stenzel that she's the only person they've spoken to about their baby. Many have hidden their pregnancies and subsequent births.

"One teen girl had hid her pregnancy from her family and delivered the baby alone in a bathroom on a Sunday night while her parents were out. Early the next morning she went to a Safe Haven baby box on her way to school. She attended classes that day like nothing had happened," recounts Stenzel.

"She called the hotline later and we organised some counselling for her. The baby was taken into medical care and hospital records showed that she had tied the umbilical cord off with shoelaces. She had YouTubed how to do it."

In the past seven years, multiple US states have passed laws allowing baby boxes or expanding Safe Haven options in other ways.

The Safe Haven movement more widely has historically been tied to anti-abortion activism.

Experts in reproductive health and child welfare say that infant surrenders are likely to increase in commonality amid the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade. And although it's important for the baby boxes to exist, it speaks to the limited access many American women have to reproductive healthcare.

You may be wondering what happens to the babies surrendered. It varies, says Stenzel. 

"Each state is different. In the state of Indiana, a baby will go into foster care into the foster-to-adopt program. The baby is then placed into their forever home within 30 to 40 days. In the state of Florida, the baby goes immediately to an adopted family through an adoption agency. But every baby that has come through our program has been adopted."

For those who work within the baby box space, they say they feel a significant amount of empathy for the mothers who have made this sacrifice.

"In the moment, many of these mothers think it's the best thing they can do for their child. This kind of love is very rare. And I think it's brave. But it's also a very sad thing."

In Australia, abandoning a child is illegal. Mothers can relinquish care of their child through social services though. 

There have long been calls from Tasmanian Labor senator Helen Polley for state governments to introduce Safe Haven laws across our country. She believes parents should be able to give up babies at baby boxes at hospitals or police stations without fear of criminal prosecution.

As Stenzel notes: "The most important thing is that women have options available to them. If Safe Haven is the option they choose, we want them to know how it's done and how to do it legally and safely. That's for their baby's wellbeing, but also for the mum too."

Feature Image: Instagram @safehavenbabyboxes.