En Espanol

If you're pregnant and about to give birth and nobody knows, you need to know there is help for you.

Remember that there are many hospitals and agencies in Pima County that will:

Receive the baby

Take care of the baby

And will find the baby a safe home.

All you have to do is hand the child to a health care professional at one of the locations listed below.

At any time of the day or night you can bring a newborn - up to 72 hours old - to any of the local hospitals or clinics listed below or to Casa de los Niņos. There will be a professional on duty to receive it from you. They will take care of the baby. You will be safe and can remain anonymous.

You do not have to give your name or any other personal information, although you will be invited to answer a few brief questions about you and the baby's birth. That information is important for the baby's health, but it's your decision whether or not to provide it. If you wish, you can click here and print out the questionnaire and bring it with you to the hospital.

You do not have to give your name. The transfer will be done anonymously. There will be no prosecution for abandonment as long as the baby is brought in within 72 hours of birth and there are no signs of intentional injury and that you have physically handed the child to an employee of the agency.

If you want more information, you can send a confidential e-mail by clicking here.

These local hospitals and agencies will receive the baby from you and have medical personnel available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week:

The following facilities are prepared to accept your child, but are not open on a 24-hour, 7-day a week basis:
  • El Pueblo Clinic 573-0096
    101 W. Irvington Rd.
    (At Nogales Highway)
    Open: M-F 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. except Wednesday when it is open until 6 p.m.
  • El Rio Health Center 792-9890
    839 W. Congress
    (Two blocks West of I-10)
    Open 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday thru Thursday, 9 a.m - 5 p.m. Friday
  • Marana Health Center 682-4111
    13644 North Sandario Road, Marana
    (On the Northeast Corner of Sandario and Grier Roads)
    Open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday
  • St. Elizabeth of Hungary Clinic 628-7871
    140 W. Speedway Blvd.
    (Between Stone and Main)
    Open: Monday thru Thursday 7 a.m. - 7 p.m., Friday 7 a.m. - 5 p.m.

If you have given birth and wish to give up your child, you or a friend should take it to one of the agencies listed above and physically hand it to a health care professional. The Emergency Room in the hospitals will be prepared to receive your child. Don't leave it outside. This program only goes into effect if there is a physical handoff of the child to an authorized health care professional.

And again, you don't have to give your name, but the person at the facility will want to ask you a few questions. We urge you to consider answering those brief but important questions. They could be a great assistance to your child as he or she grows. It will only take a few moments.

In order for this program to go into effect, the child must be less than 72 hours old and be unharmed. If both those are true, then the State of Arizona's Child Protective Services will be summoned and normal procedures will kick in. There will be no prosecution for abandonment and there will be no effort to identify you. If there are signs of injury or the child appears to be older, law enforcement agencies normally would be summoned and the protection afforded you under this program would not be in effect.

We want to help you through a difficult time. We know the pressures of an unexpected pregnancy for a young woman can be extremely difficult. Our goal is to save the child. During its session in spring, 2001, the Arizona Legislature passed legislation signed by Governor Jane Dee Hull, which authorizes such a program. You can look at a copy of that bill here.

But even before that legislation was passed and signed, Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall had initiated plans for such a program in Pima County using her own discretion on prosecution assuming certain guidelines were followed.

Agencies which have volunteered to be participants in this program will display this emblem:

Click Here for the National Website