Police interview mother of newborn baby found abandoned in Sydney drain | Australia news | The GuardianPolice interview mother of newborn baby found abandoned in Sydney drain | Australia news | The Guardian










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Sydney



Police interview mother of newborn baby found abandoned in Sydney drain









The 30-year-old Quakers Hill woman was found after police scoured hospital records and doorknocked the area 














A supplied image of a newborn baby has been found 2.5 metres down a drain beside Sydney's M7 at Quakers Hill Photograph: NSW POLICE/PR IMAGE




Bridie Jabour and agencies






@bkjabour





Saturday 22 November 2014 23.02 EST







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The mother of a newborn boy, found at the bottom of a 2.5-metre drain in north-west Sydney, has been identified and is being interviewed by police.
The baby was rescued, wrapped in his hospital blanket, from the bottom of a drain after a cyclist heard him crying while on the bike track beside the M7 in Quakers Hill about 7.30am on Sunday.
After scouring hospital records and doorknocking, police have identified the mother as a 30-year-old Quakers Hill woman. She has been taken to Blacktown police station and is being questioned.
Police are investigating the possibility that the baby had been in the drain since Tuesday.
A group of passersby managed to lift the top of the drain and saw the baby lying at the bottom early on Sunday. Police were called and Quakers Hill local area command duty officer, Insp David Lagats, said because of the long drop, they feared the worst, thinking the baby might have been badly injured.
“It’s a disturbing incident, how the child was placed in the drain,” he told reporters on Sunday morning.
“With the help of the bystanders en masse, we managed to lift this quite heavy concrete slab up to get the police down there to the baby. We thought the worst but the baby was still alive.”



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The drain in the Sydney suburb of Quakers Hill where the abandoned newborn was found.
Photograph: Roje Adaimy/AAP Image


Lagats said police were relieved to find no sign of external injuries and the boy is being checked for any other injuries at the children’s hospital at Westmead where he is in a serious but stable condition.
He said the baby might only be a couple of days old and was wrapped in a hospital blanket. He had his umbilical cord cut and clamped which Lagats said seemed to indicate the baby had been delivered in a hospital, or at least received medical attention before being abandoned.
He said police were concerned for the mother’s welfare.
The baby’s abandonment has spurred fresh calls for emergency hatches to be rolled out nationally at hospitals.
Family and community services district director for western Sydney, Lisa Charet, said while it was rare for a baby to be abandoned in such a manner it usually signalled a very desperate person behind it.
“We are really worried about primarily his welfare and mum’s. We would want mum to come forward. We can give her the help and support she needs. She must be feeling distressed. If the parents come forward, we will be able to work with them to find out what support, what they help need and be able to assess where we go from here,” she said.
“Often when this sort of thing happens, people are in a place of desperation. There has been cases where mothers have had postnatal depression or those issues or are very young and don’t know where to go to for help.”
She added: “You have to be in a fairly desperate place to commit this sort of act and so that’s where we would rather people come forward and get the support that they need.”
When the possibility of emergency hatches at hospitals was raised, Charet said there was support for struggling parents already available.
“I think people are scared if they come forward, there may be consequences. You can go to a hospital, they will support you,” she said.
“Family and Community Services have a 24/7 helpline. The number is 13 21 11. People can call there any time and we will help. Police are also here to help. It’s fear that stops people coming forward but we are here to support the community.”
Germany and Canada are among countries that have baby hatches, mostly attached to hospitals, where parents can safely place unwanted babies, and trigger an alarm to alert staff.
Labor senator Helen Polley believes the idea has merit and has called for a national response.
Baby abandonment is currently treated as a criminal offence, with parents liable for prosecution.
Polley wants baby safe havens established across the country in places such as fire stations, police stations and hospitals.
“Here, a parent could legally abandon a baby without fear of criminal prosecution,” she said.
“Let’s make sure mothers and babies are provided [with] ... the compassion of a modern society.”
The baby is in the care of the Department of Family and Community Services and may be put in the care of a foster family.



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