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.

It's not for you to get your head around this. Leave that to the professionals with skill, experience and most importantly, empathy to what leads people to take just drastic actions.

The way we treat women who abandon newborns (compassion, lack of blame) is a rare example of the criminal justice system working sensibly- not only would it achieve nothing to punish mothers who do this but it would make it more likely that other women take even more drastic action.

Thank God that the baby is alive and well. I hope the mum comes forward so she can get the care she needs.

My dad has some friends who are in their eighties and over twenty years ago someone left a baby on their doorstep, this is not on the UK and in this country there is no social care system and a lot of poverty. The baby's mum was never found, although they were getting on they took her in a brought the girl up as they felt the mother must've chosen them and might come looking for her. My dad's friend is still working so he can make sure the girl is really set up when he and his wife die and they love her to bits they consider her an absolute blessing. She knows what happened and loves them too but it must be awfully hard for the poor girl.

I hope this baby found yesterday grows up okay and that the mother is found and receives appropriate treatment.

Rather than punish the mother I lean more towards thinking how desperate must you be? Of course leaving a baby wrapped in a towel in a shopping bag is horrendous but it isn’t the actions of a clear thinking person.

Without knowing why they did this I can’t judge.

Poor mother (we don’t know what’s happened) she could have given birth in a wood or park- it’s freezing. Or perhaps she was held and forced to give birth at home with someone else leaving the child there. Could’ve been raped. Could be sex trafficking. Could be anything. Perhaps the mother is grieving for her baby, the mother may even be dead for all we know.

Thank goodness the baby has been found and is safe and hope the mother comes forward and receives some medical attention.

Missingmyusername You’ve raised good points. We no longer live in a society where pregnant unmarried women are scorned and sent to mother and baby homes to have their babies in secret before having them adopted. The alternative possible reasons you’ve given are just horrific.

Imagine calling people that show compassion and empathy "apologists".

I agree with you OP.

The mother may have been in a horrible state of mind, abused or worse but there are 1000 places the baby could have been left other than in a shopping bag in the bitter cold.

Her intent may not have been for the child to die but surely she would have known that was the enivitable result.

Well, it wasn’t “enivaitable” that the child died, was it? Given that she was quickly found and cared for and is doing well

sockmuncher we don’t know it was the mother who left the baby there.

Have you heard of post partum psychosis? Or dangerously abusive partners?

The baby is safe, and well, so that discounts what you thoughtlessly put in your post.

Do you know what inevitable means (assuming that is the word you meant)?

I don't think that the baby was left to die at all, it seems that she was very much 'left to be found'

For all you know the mother could be a 13 year old who panicked. I doubt anyone would do this if they were in their right mental state. The mum and the baby both deserve some compassion.

As an interesting aside, babies have lots of brown adipose fat - the same fat bears lay on to hibernate - it's the reason lots of the tiny tiny vulnerable ones miraculously survive things like this

So if this was an 11 year old girl who’d been raped by her father and panicked and left the baby outside, you think she should be charged?

This is the 3rd baby to have been found within the past 3/4 years in the same area.

These babies could easily die, because the abandoner is too afraid to seek help for whatever reason.

People like you are the reason these mothers are too afraid to reach out for help, because they’re worried about the judgement.

We should be encouraging the mum to come forward and get help, not be scared of being charged.

If they are reading this then I hope they ignore your judgemental comments and get help.

In some fire stations in America they have a drop box, where these women/girls can put the baby in without anyone judging them.

English isn't my first language.

Do you know what child endangerment means? Do you want me to explain it to you? I can do so in one of the other three languages that I'm proficient in.

It was pure luck that someone opened the bag and came across the baby in time.

The mother couldn't have guaranteed that unless there is more to know about the location in which the baby was dumped. So as far as she was aware the inevitable result is that the child would have died.

I know.

In news reports from the US when babies are left in such places their first response is to find and prosecute the mother no matter what the mothers circumstances are.

That's a no then.

I don't have a dog but know the local dog walking places in my area. I also know the approximate times people walk their dogs. (I've known this since a teen in the various areas I've lived in.)

So if I was to do something that I wanted to be discovered at a particular time I know where to go.

EssexLive has a photo and says the baby was "30 minutes old"

The person who left the baby must've known the area was quite busy and the newborn would be found . I live near a park and that time of night it would be empty on a cold evening.

Many of the neighbours round this playground said if they'd left the baby and rang the doorbell but with the number of RingDoorbells the chance of being filmed leaving this baby are high.

The lady who found her thought it was an animal in the bag which alerted her by the noise .

Very sad situation and a huge relief that the baby is thriving , the details of this case will not be public knowledge and rightly so .

the baby may not even have been dumped by the mother.
People traffickers treat people as commodities.
They may have dumped the baby and the poor woman is god knows where and will soon be back to being sold by her handlers

Interesting, which news reports? Seems odd given the safe haven laws.

I think the most important thing right now is making sure the mum gets the help she needs.there is her mental health as well as her physical health given that she gave birth without no medical intervention.

I get people will be saying how could anyone dump a baby but we don't know this person's circumstances and how scared and alone she may have felt.