Leaving a newborn in a shopping bag.

[Eastie77Returns]

It's currently 2 degrees in my area. Last night it was 0-1 max. There are a dozen places you could potentially leave a tiny baby and someone chose to place him/her outside in a shopping bag.

The person who did this (no idea if it was mum, dad or someone else) should be charged. With what, I don't know. Attempted murder? I mean the baby was found by a dog walker, completely chance.

I'm sure the apologists will be out in force - whoever left the baby must be in distress, they need help etc. That may be true. But I cannot get my head around this.

We aren't the US.

Also depending on where you live you know where the dog walkers go, so some people in distress do things deliberately knowing they are likely to be found by a dog walker.

God bless everyone in this story. There are no winners here. I hope both mother and baby are doing well.

The poor mother - whether she left the baby herself or someone took it from her, she must be in an absolutely desperate situation. I really hope she’s ok and thank goodness the baby was found quickly.

What would that achieve?

The dozen places you mention could be highly visible places and if the mother was terrified of being seen she would avoid those places.

I agree it's absolutely awful to leave a precious baby like that but until we know who and why they did it the it's not fair to judge.

If it's a woman with no problems who just wanted to get shot of the baby perhaps because she has been unfaithful then I agree she should be charged.

Maybe a desperate young girl who gave birth in secret and alone.
Needs help not condemnation.
Is the baby OK?

I don't understand why you can't get your head round it, it is really not complicated.

Sometimes desperate/mentally ill people do desperate/unsafe things.

The baby was found and is being cared for.

It is easy to get your pitchfork out and scream for prosecution, but this is a sad event all round. You may want to think about why your first response is anger.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12982561/amp/dog-walker-finds-newborn-baby-girl-wrapped-towel-dumped-shopping-bag-London.html

Is there a news article for this that you can link to, OP?

And what exactly do you hope for in posting this? There will indeed be people who agree with you, and people who disagree with you. I'm broadly of the disagree persuasion; it's so far outside of normal behaviour that I think it's most likely that somebody was in extreme distress or being extremely coerced to do this. Perhaps they are underage and shit scared. Perhaps with an abusive partner. Perhaps mentally unwell. And yes perhaps it was a cold blooded attempt to dispose of an unwanted life, but what seems more likely to you?

I'd rather assume distress and focus on finding the mother and checking if she has any unmet needs, then assume that this was a cold and callus attempt at murder or neglect. Treating it immediately as a neglect/murder/manslaughter attempt would stop a mother in desperate need from coming forward and accessing help, and that would deepen the tragic circumstances.

Edited because I cross-posted with a link being posted; so she was left in a place which was busy enough with traffic and pedestrians that it warrants a pedestrian crossing. It is in London - a place which is a huge melting pot of cultures, not all of which would support a girl or woman who was pregnant under any/all circumstances. She was wrapped in a towel, and was found soon enough that she hadn't suffered any harm.

None of this suggests that this was a baby who was dumped to die. Care has been attempted, both to keep her warm and to leave her in a place that she would be found. Was it inappropriate and insufficient care for a newborn and risky as fuck? Without a doubt, yes. But everything points to a mother in desperate circumstances who needs help and support, not a bloody murder witch hunt.

My heart breaks for all concerned. The baby is being looked after. I'm sure the mother needs care.

I hope the mother is not found. They would give her a quick once over and then treat her like a dirty criminal. The poor girl is probably desperate - who knows? Very young? Victim of abuse? Unable to speak the language? How easy it is to judge from the comfort of your heated home.
Hope she is ok wherever she is.

This. It’s a sad story for all those involved.

Oh that poor baby, and her poor mother. Have a heart.

Yes because a person who leaves a newborn in a carrier bag is clearly in their right mind and thinking straight 🙄

The offence you're looking for is child abandonment.

I think it rather depends on the circumstances though. A mother in a highly abusive or trafficked circumstances which would mean the baby is in danger? What would prosecution achieve?

Some pimp who just wants rid so he can have his charges back working again, or some twat who doesn't want another baby and doesn't think it's his? Sure, throw the book at them.

Right now though the priority, rightly, is the safety and health of the baby and mother. Fingers can be pointed later.

We need safe places with no judgement for these kind of things. Like America have those baby boxes at fire stations and such.

Nobody in their right mind dumps a new born baby so this mother is in distress regardless. Thinking she should be charged is exactly why the baby is dumped rather than handed over at. A hospital or something because there would be cctv footage of this person broadcast to the country trying to hunt her down.

I feel sorry for all concerned. The mother clearly needs help. The article doesn’t mention the ethnicity of the baby. Newham has a very diverse population with a high number of Asian/Muslim families and it is a possibility the mum was teenage and/ or single and this could be seriously frowned on in this community, even a reason for ‘honour’ killing.

I hope mum and baby get all support.

You can't get your head round it because you haven't been in this position. There are a multitude of reasons why someone felt this was the best option
Thankfully baby is fine, let's hope mum comes forward and gets the help she needs
Bashing her on the internet won't help

It doesn’t say carrier bag. It says shopping bag. A baby could be fairly snugly wrapped up and placed in a bag for life as in a carrycot.

The person who did this (no idea if it was mum, dad or someone else) should be charged

To what aim? It won't deter others (in fact it might make it far worse if a baby is concealed) and the punishment can't possibly be worse than what the mother is likely going through.

We need the opposite: less judgement and more support and safety for mothers and their babies.

In order to do something like this, the mother must be in desperate circumstances herself. Why do you think prosecution is the way to go here as opposed to finding and resourcing better ways to support vulnerable women and girls to prevent them feeling like this is their only option? Instead of getting this mother the help and support she clearly needs and creating the possibility that she could actually be reunited with her baby and care for them properly?

The baby is fine and that makes me think whoever left them has tried to ensure they'd be found quickly given the weather without giving away their own identity. There's plenty of places where baby wouldn't have been found at all.

I hope this woman or girl gets the help she needs. She really needs to access medical care herself right now and is highly vulnerable.

What you're reacting to is your own inability to process how desperate and terrified and hopeless you'd need to feel to be able to do such a thing. Your inability to do that doesn't make her any less vulnerable.

This was in London...

What if the mum is a terrified 12-13 year old girl? You'd want her charged?

Say it’s a 15 year old girl being abused by her uncle? Woman who has been sex trafficked?
How will putting her through the ordeal of being charged help the situation?

Do you really think the mother was thinking straight at the point at which she abandoned her baby? She needs help and support not punishing.