A baby born at a Dayton hospital that tested positive for narcotics was turned over to state custody after the mother left the facility and did not come back, according to a police report.
On Saturday, Dayton police responded to Miami Valley Hospital on a call for assistance.
Officers met with a Children Services case worker who needed help transferring custody of a baby boy who was born on Feb. 3. The boy tested positive for cocaine and opiates when he was born, the report states.
The boy’s mother, a 30-year-old Riverside woman, was discharged from the hospital the day after giving birth.
Medical staff said the mother left the hospital and did not return.
Custody of the boy was transferred to Children Services and the boy was allowed to be discharged from the hospital into foster care.
Ohio has a program called Safe Haven that allows mothers and fathers to take newborn babies to a hospital emergency room and tell staff they want to leave them there.
The program is aimed partly at mothers who have hidden their pregnancies or who have no plans for their babies. It is supposed to help parents who cannot care for their infants.
Parents can drop their babies off and not be required to give a name. The babies can be up to 30 days old.
“If the infant is left with a person at one of these places, and has not been abused, the parent will face no legal consequences for making this choice,” according to the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services.
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