Police plea for help to find mum of newborn abandoned in Blacktown

A newborn baby girl was just a couple of hours old when she was discovered in the backyard of a Blacktown home on Friday. Police are now desperate to find her mother, saying ‘All we want to do is help you’.

It had all the signs that children play happily there, a suburban backyard with a swing set, a cubby house and little clothes drying on the line.

Authorities can only assume the person desperate enough to leave a baby at the back door of the Blacktown home just hours after she was born took some solace in the fact the girl would be safe there.

The newborn with fair skin and a dark head of hair was found naked, crying, her umbilical cord still attached, on an outdoor wicker chair on Friday morning.

The owners of the home moved in just two weeks ago, and had been out of the house having lunch for about two hours. They returned home just after 2.30pm to the sound of a baby crying.

They followed the cries to their backyard and discovered the baby girl.

The young family who live at the home quickly took action, caring for her like she was their own.

The owners of the home who found the abandoned baby talk to police.

The backyard where the baby was found. Picture: Julian Andrews

They cleaned her up and dressed her in their own child’s clothes, putting a little beanie on her head to warm her up as they waited for police to come.

The Sunday Telegraph understands the baby is doing well and could be discharged as early as this weekend to a foster family. A search of a “high risk birth alert” database is under way to see if the mother of the baby can be identified. Under the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act, government and non-government agencies are able to exchange information about children and young people as part of promoting their safety, welfare and wellbeing.

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

This includes information about an unborn child who might be subject to a pre-natal report.

Detectives from Bankstown arrived to find a tiny girl born no more than three hours earlier.

They scoured nearby streets and CCTV footage for any trace of a person with the baby before she was abandoned. By late yesterday they had found nothing.

Acting Inspector David McInerney said the main concern for police was the mother’s welfare. He stressed that she was not in any trouble.

The Blacktown house where the newborn baby was left on Friday afternoon. Picture: Julian Andrews

“Don’t be scared to come forward because all we want to do is help you,” he said in an address to the baby’s mum. “We’re really concerned about the mother’s health, as you’re aware, childbirth can be quite traumatic.”

Police don’t know where the baby was born, and are only sure of the fact she was not delivered in a hospital.

Neighbours were unable to assist, with no one on Girra Rd hearing or seeing a distressed woman or baby.

“This is a lovely street, we all know each other,” one neighbour said. “For this to happen …. We are all in shock.”

Another neighbour said she believed the baby’s mother chose the Girra Rd home because it looked “safe”.

“You can see the swings and toys, they have a little girl too. She chose a home that looked safe. Maybe the people would know what to do,” she said.

The family who found the baby declined to speak about the discovery in their backyard, but said they were “very happy” the baby was okay.

Detectives carrying out door-to-door inquiries on Saturday in a bid to find the baby’s mother. Picture: Julian Andrews

Sergeant Dave McInerney pleads for information about the mother, so police can check on her physical and mental wellbeing. Picture: Julian Andrews

Acting Inspector McInerney confirmed the baby was healthy and well and was being cared for by staff at Bankstown Hospital.

“She’s healthy … there’s no serious injury or health concerns with the baby,” he said.

With serious concerns for her physical and mental wellbeing, police are calling for anyone with information about the mother and baby to contact police. “Anyone that may have seen a woman that was pregnant or appeared distressed in the area on Friday, please contact police,” he said.

“We are just trying to help her.”