A newborn baby boy was safely extracted from the baby-safe at St John’s Presbyterian Church in Middelburg on Wednesday afternoon.

The alarm of the baby safe was triggered around 16:00, sending a red alert dispatch signal to local security companies, the SAPS and emergency services.

Upon opening the safe, which automatically locks once an infant is placed inside, emergency personnel found the baby with the umbilical cord still intact.

He was rushed to hospital but declared healthy. The baby boy has since been placed in a home of safety with social workers taking over the case.

The mother of the newborn is unknown.

It is the second baby found in the baby-safe in six months. On December 23 the alarm was also triggered.

Responders found the day-old baby girl in the safe, after which the child was also placed in a home of safety. The girl’s teenage mother, however, later returned.

The baby safe was built after the disposal of newborn baby Madison in a garden refuse drum years ago.

The aim with the safe is not for able mothers to abandon children, but rather to offer women in crisis pregnancies life-saving options for their infants.

The safe contains pamphlets with information on how mothers can become involved with their babies after safe disposal.

“Mothers who turn to the baby-safe obviously want their infants to be cared for, and had no other option but to use it,” says one of the persons involved with the safe.