IOWA CITY, Iowa - An Iowa woman allegedly gave birth in a University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics bathroom, then tried to flush the baby down the toilet because she thought it was stillborn.
It's an incident that could've been avoided with the Safe Haven Law.
"In Iowa you have up to 14 days and you can leave your baby at any health care facility, hospital and no questions asked," said Mark Mathews, Executive Director, Child Abuse Council.
The law is also in Illinois but it's just a little bit different, it includes fire departments and police departments in addition to hospitals.
The Child Abuse Council works with at-risk families and said they don't see cases like this often so it's important for people to know their options.
"These folks aren't necessarily bad people, they just make bad decisions, they're scared they don't know what to do, so we would gladly help anyone that needs help and support," said Mathews.
The incident happened Sunday, May 8, 2016, in a restroom at the John Colloton Pavilion. A criminal complaint filed in Johnson County states 22-year-old Ashley Hautzenrader, of Davenport, Iowa, entered the bathroom and delivered a baby in the toilet.
Hautzenrader said she did not know she was pregnant when she entered the restroom, and thought the baby was dead because it didn’t cry, the complaint said. She tried flushing the baby down the toilet, but then put the baby in a pillowcase, which she placed in the trash can.
She now faces one count of child endangerment, an aggravated misdemeanor.