All About Laughs
Parenthood can be a struggle for even the most prepared, but imagine the true stress of someone not ready. Unfortunately for some this is exactly their reality. More specifically, underaged teens tasked with the burden parenthood well before they are capable of handling it. It can be terrifying and daunting, not just for the parent but for their new born babies who know nothing of the world and already need so much from someone not equip to provide it.
The state of New Jersey understands these pressures and have been making moves to help alleviate them for young teens experiencing parenthood too soon. The New Jersey Department of Children and Families recently tweeted about a new law taking effect in the state to help anyone struggling with a new born they are unprepared to parent. “New Jersey has Safe Havens for newborns” says the tweet, posted on May 18th, 2021. It continues “If you’re stressed, if you feel like you have nowhere else to turn, or if you think you’ve run out of options, don’t panic.” It concludes with “Find the location nearest you: http://njsafehaven.org” The post instructs those not able to support newborns to not panic, and to drop the baby with staff at any hospital emergency room, police station, fire station, ambulance first aid or rescue squad.
🚼 New Jersey has Safe Havens for newborns 🚼
— NJ Department of Children and Families (@NJDCF) May 19, 2021
If you’re stressed, if you feel like you have nowhere else to turn, or if you think you’ve run out of options, don’t panic.
📍Find the location nearest you: https://t.co/jC5HreDqyk pic.twitter.com/YAxEUb4zRe
For a 14 year old girl in Jersey, this would have been incredible news. unfortunately the young unnamed woman was unaware of this law in her state, and instead frantically walked into a crowded restaurant Wednesday afternoon with a newborn baby in hand. The young woman walking into El Patron Restaurant in Glen Gardner, New Jersey, the full encounter captured on its surveillance cameras. El Patron’s owner Frankie Aguilar told Penn Live that the young girl walked into his establishment looking “a little bit desperate,” while holding a newborn baby.
After asking different customers for help she handed the baby to Alease Scott, who has asked to check the babies vitals. Scott was so focused on making sure the child was fine she did not even notice that the girl walked right out of the restaurant, leaving her with the baby. She quickly noticed the child struggling to breath and alerted authorities who arrived. Once they got her some oxygen, the hungry baby began looking for food, a good sign that she was ok.
“Once I applied the oxygen mask to the baby, all of a sudden we heard the most beautiful cry and the baby started moving, she slightly opened up her eyes and then she closed her eyes but the sweetest thing was when she got hungry and she was trying to suckle on the oxygen mask so we knew she was OK after that,” Scott said.
Read the story about the 14 year old with her newborn in the restaruant… poor girl 🙁
— =( (@Arii_Arii_Arii_) May 21, 2021
