Blacktown family reveal how they saved newborn baby abandoned in their backyard

The Carlos family found the hours-old newborn shivering and naked on their back patio and immediately took action to save her life. It comes as police continue the search for her mother.

A shoelace was the only thing she could find when Anne Carlos was told she urgently needed to clamp the umbilical cord of a newborn baby abandoned in her backyard.

The Blacktown woman on Sunday recounted the distressing moment her sister Lara heard faint cries while hanging out washing on Friday afternoon, and discovered an hours-old baby - unclothed and still covered in fluids from birth - on their back patio.

In between rescuing the shivering newborn girl and wrapping her in a warm towel until police arrived, Mrs Carlos revealed how paramedics instructed her over the phone how to tie off the baby’s umbilical cord.

“I couldn’t find anything in the kitchen, so I grabbed a shoelace and used that…then they (paramedics) talked me through how to do it,” she said.

Mrs Carlos, her mother and sister then cuddled the crying baby and loosely dressed her in some clothes they had lying around, until paramedics and police arrived.

Anne Carlos with her daughter Skye, 11-months, at their home in Blacktown. Picture: Gaye Gerard

“We knew she had been born very recently, like only hours earlier, because she still had the white stuff (vernix) on her head,” she said.

“There wasn’t a lot of blood, I think someone had definitely cleaned her up a bit before this.”

But how or why she ended up in the backyard of this family’s home baffles both the Carlos family and police who are desperately searching for the baby’s mother.

The family found the little girl naked and alone in their Blacktown home’s backyard. Picture: Julian Andrews

Mrs Carlos took The Daily Telegraph into the yard to show the effort the mother went to to get the baby safely inside the gate, before placing her on a cushion on a chair, and leaving.

Police insist the mother is not in any trouble, they just want to know she’s OK after going through childbirth alone and not in a hospital.

Neighbours on Girra Rd say they saw a white 4WD driving slowly past the house right about the time the baby was abandoned, around 2pm.

“We heard the side gate close really loudly, but we thought it was my brother-in-law coming in or out,” Mrs Carlos said.

“But now we realise that must have been the mum or whoever left the baby here, and they closed it loudly so we would go out and find her. You don’t bang a gate closed if you don’t want to be heard.”

The naked baby was left in a wicker chair in the backyard. Picture: Julian Andrews

The family only moved into the Girra Rd house on April 14, so they don’t know anyone else on the street or in the area.

But Mrs Carlos believes the swing set, pink bicycles and sandpit were enough for a desperate mother to know the baby was being left with a child-friendly family.

“We have three baby girls in this house at the moment (among the extended family staying), so they definitely chose a good place for the baby,” she said.

The baby remains in Blacktown Hospital for observation, and a “fine and healthy” condition while police continue looking for her mum.

“Don’t be scared to come forward, because all we want to do is help you,“ acting Inspector David McInerney said in a message to the mother.