Oxfordshire police made a desperate plea for the young mother of a newborn baby girl who was found dead in a bush with her umbilical cord still attached to come forward, reported the Mirror . Last Monday, a dog walker stumbled upon a black bag near Edgeway Road with the body of the newborn baby inside.
Police officials were immediately called to the scene, where they discovered a tiny, eight-pound baby girl dead in the bushes. The baby’s body was taken to the local medical examiner’s office, where it was later discovered that the baby girl was “born after a full term of pregnancy,” and she was not injured after birth. Although the cause of death has yet to be determined, reports say that the child must have been left in the bushes for approximately three days before her death.
It was concluded that the newborn baby’s mother, who is believed to be between the age of 14 and 21, abandoned her baby after giving birth.
During a press conference, Superintendent Christian Bunt, of Thames Valley Police stated, “The main bit we want to get across today is the welfare of the mother. Clearly this is a very tragic and upsetting situation for everyone involved, including the local community.”
“While the police clearly have got a role to play, we do not want to put the mother off from coming forward. We have a role in establishing what has happened. Firstly we need to establish what has happened to the baby and secondly, trying to locate the mother.”
The superintendent went on to say, “Our number one priority is the mother. In terms of the baby we will look to establish exactly what has happened. From our initial assessment what we can say is that the umbilical cord was still attached to the baby when it was found.”
“That clearly means there is going to be some health implication if the mother does not get seen by a doctor. That mother is going to need to see a doctor urgently.”
#oxfordshire Dead baby found in Marston was a girl: THE newborn baby which was found dead on a footpath was a… https://t.co/W6iiIjeYIa
— Lookaburra SouthEast (@LookaburraSE) March 4, 2016
Jane Hervé, who is the head of midwifery at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, told police officials that she nor her staff blames the young mother for allegedly abandoning her newborn baby in the bushes.
According to the Daily Mail , she went on to say, “We absolutely want to support her. Midwives at the John Radcliffe are waiting for her call. We will do everything to support her and her family.”
“We want to support her both physically and emotionally. She may have given birth on her own – we want to help her get the support she needs. It could be that she hasn’t yet delivered the placenta, which means she could hemorrhage or have an infection.”
At police headquarters, Blunt said that he urges the young mother to come forward, and it doesn’t have to be to Oxfordshire police. The mother can go to a “doctor or a nurse at a GP surgery or at the hospital, anywhere she can get medical help. But I am also appealing to family, friends and the local community, if they have an inkling about who this mother could be, to contact us.”
Mum of a newborn baby found dead in bushes in Oxfordshire may be as young as 14 https://t.co/ez2fMgUvWh pic.twitter.com/6H0AU0y8G5
— Daily Star (@Daily_Star) March 4, 2016
“The appeal for that information is about getting medical help. I do not want to put the mum off by her thinking ‘why are the police getting involved in this? This looks like quite a tragic situation and the mum will be in an extremely frightened and upset position and may not be thinking straight.”
“She just needs medical support. The rest of it we can sort out later on,” Blunt added.
Anyone with information regarding the newborn baby girl found dead in the bushes, as well as her mother’s whereabouts is urged to contact 24-hour Thames Valley Police enquiry.
[Photo by Kena Betancu/Getty Images]
