When police say they are 'concerned' for mothers who abandon babies do they want to prosecute them?

[thebings]

Not exactly an AIBU but wasn't sure where to put this...

I just saw a news article about a baby being abandoned in London on Thursday night, poor thing. I'm glad she was found!

One of the quotes from the article is that police are becoming increasingly concerned for the mother.

There are always quotes from police along these lines when this sort of thing happens, and I suppose my question is, do you think are they concerned for her health due to her possibly needing medical care having just given birth?

Or are they mainly saying that to try and get her to come forward without being afraid of prosecution (and would the mother be prosecuted in this kind of situation)?

I'm just curious really!

No I think it’s purely to make sure they aren’t haemorrhaging somewhere or otherwise in need of medical assistance.

So many things can go wrong during and after labour, it’s pretty frightening to imagine what the woman could be experiencing alone probably too scared to seek medical attention.

@kikipost

The last thing the really despicable ones do is abandon their children. Usually they do everything possible to hang on to them and cover up the abuse. In cases like this it's more likely there is a very sad back story rather than cruel abuse.

I've always taken it as 'we would like to find this person, they may be in danger, we may be able to help them, however we may prosecute if they have done anything criminal'. Which may be contributing to why the person disappeared in the fist place.

I think it’s genuine concern a) to ensure that there aren’t complications resulting from labour and b) because there must be something very wrong with her mental state/she is a young child. For the latter reason I doubt they would prosecute.

Isn’t attempt suicide also a potential criminal offence, never heard of a prosecution for that either though

The police also want the mother to come forward for the sake of the child, not necessarily so that the child would go back to mother's care, but so that they can be placed either with wider family or at least adopted with some knowledge of who they are and where they came from.

I once worked on the adoption of an abandoned baby and the saddest thing is there is no life story, absolutely nothing to share about the parents' history, no definite date of birth and we even had to make a guess at ethnic origin based on DNA testing. However brilliant the adopters are it's a lot for a child growing up to come to terms with that they have no idea who they are.

Lushlemming is talking absolute bollocks about the police. I work directly with them and often they are more soft hearted than the other professionals.

the cases I have tangentially been involved with where babies have been abandoned have been bloody heartbreaking. Often the mother has MH issues, or is at risk of honour crimes- or is very very young and has concealed the pregnancy. I haven't known any be prosecuted.

It's more about ensuring mother has healthcare and doesn't haemorrhage to death somewhere. Or that the baby has some knowledge of where they came from.

@inliverpool1 not anymore

Isn’t attempt suicide also a potential criminal offence, never heard of a prosecution for that either though

You wouldnt , it was decriminalised in 1961

It may not have been the mother who abandoned the child. She may be in an abusive situation and the abuser has done this.

I remember listening to an interview once (a long time ago) where it was said that in the US, they would likely prosecute a woman for abandonment in a case like this, but in the UK they don’t and are usually sensitive to the emotional, psychological and physical issues of the mother.

Isn’t attempt suicide also a potential criminal offence, never heard of a prosecution for that either though

It's not in the UK anymore. But in some countries they make it an offence so that the police have the power to remove you from the situation and take you, against your will, to a hospital for treatment.

I know someone who abandoned their baby. She was very young and terrified. The police treated her with absolute kindness and their only concern was her welfare.

She was also reunited with her baby. There was SS involvement obviously for a while, but they were also incredibly kind and dealt with the situation really well.

She was scared of being prosecuted as well, but the police said they had no interest in that as she'd left her baby somewhere safe and warm. She had clearly left them because in her panic she genuinely believed that was the best thing forthe baby. There may have been a different attitude if she had left the baby somewhere dangerous.

They don't lie awake at night thinking about any victim

Of course not - they can't afford to think about the victims in that way. If the police (or other emergency services personnel) did that, both their professional judgement and personal mental health could be a risk.

@Lushlemming you talk shite.

I know plenty of people who should have been arrested and prosecuted according to your information, however they didn't even get a caution but a ticking off.

Oh and certain cases get to the police like other professionals who see horrendous things.

I always feel deeply for both mother and baby in these stories. She must have been a bad place. I hope she gets the help she needs.

I've always assumed the police are appealing for her to get mental and physical health care, rather than charging her with anything.

juniperbushes You are wrong. I have both a paramedic and an ex- police officer in my close family. They are haunted by some of what they have seen.

Retained placenta is real risk. Still, If I was the mother, I'd assume they only wanted to prosecute me. I hope little Roman is ok. x

My guess is that they would like to see if there is any way how to enable the baby to be with its mother in some capacity. To help the mother to rearrange her life to be able to keep the baby and care for them?
Or is that too naive? I thought that UK is now fairly good at supporting single mothers?

Op will probably have forgotten she even asked the question, given it's now over five years later...

I think there would be genuine concern, abandoning a baby isn't the natural thing to do. There could be severe mental health problems, the mother could be in an abusive relationship, she could be being trafficked, she could be running in fear of someone. It's also best for the child she is identified, even if she doesn't have a relationship with the child, everyone deserves to know where they came from and not knowing that must be very difficult.

ZOMBIE

It's a zombie thread yes, but the abandoned baby Elsa on the news today was found to be from the same parents as the baby in the OP (as was another baby Harry in East London in 2017). So possibly a worthwhile bump.

There's a story been on the news about parents who dumped 3 children in the last three years.

They hace carried out tests. All children have the same mum and dad.
Who abandons three babies?
Why don't they stop shagging, use contraception or give the babies up for adoption. It really is horribly selfish on the social services and the children.

Yes, a woman or girl who is potentially being subjected to horrific domestic abuse including having three babies taken from her and dumped should just stop shagging, @PassingStranger .