Newborn left at doorstep of K.H.M.H.
It’s one of those good news, bad news situations. The bad news is that a mother has abandoned her newborn child. The good news, however, is that the infant appears to be healthy and in the loving care of professionals. Patrick Jones has the story.
Patrick Jones, Reporting
Meet baby Jane Doe, blissfully asleep and totally oblivious of her predicament. According to social worker at the K.H.M.H. Sandra Moguel, the infant was dropped off at the Emergency Ward soon after taking her first breath.
Sandra Moguel, Social Worker, K.H.M.H.
“The child was brought in a blanket and the umbilical cord was not clamped and the child was full of blood, so the child had just been born.”
Moguel says that whoever delivered the eight-pound baby girl to the K.H.M.H. disappeared into the weekend night and since then no one has come forward to claim the child.
Sandra Moguel
“Someone had brought the baby in and when the baby was referred to me on Saturday, the baby had come in about 9:23 the night and it was already a day and no family/relative had come back. Apparently the child was brought by a female, an aunt, it was reportedly said that it was an aunt and when she came in and the nurse was supposed to get the information from her, she immediately said that she was going to come back, that she was going to get the mother.”
Whoever the mother is, Medical Chief of Staff Dr. Fernando Cuellar says she probably saved her baby’s life by getting her to the hospital.
Dr. Fernando Cuellar, Chief of Staff, K.H.M.H.
“They probably just panicked and didn’t know what to do with the initial care of the baby and decided to bring the baby here.”
And even though the baby’s mother has abandoned her responsibility, there is no shortage of caregivers at the nurses’ station. Cuellar says the baby is in good health and the prognosis for her survival is positive.
Dr. Fernando Cuellar
“Well luckily the baby is quite okay, quite healthy, generally speaking. We do have her considered as a baby born outside the hospital, so that itself entails the possibility of infections and so forth, so she’s being given antibiotics, but she is feeding on her own, and everything for right now looks quite well.”
But while the best place for this child would be with her mother, Cuellar says not just anyone can walk in off the street to make a claim.
Dr. Fernando Cuellar
“Yes they can, but of course we won’t release the baby until the proper investigations have been carried out. We would have to review the mother for example and make sure that she has just delivered a baby. There are medical signs that you can look for in a female to see the recent child birth.”
Patrick Jones, for News 5.
Doctors at K.H.M.H. are conducting further tests, including a check on the baby’s HIV. status. Moguel says Jane Doe could be released as early as Tuesday into the care of a social worker from the Human Development Department. What happens after that is not altogether clear. When we checked with the social worker assigned to the case, we were told that she is not authorised to speak to the media without the consent of her supervisor, who was out of office for the day. Several people, including nurses at the K.H.M.H. have already indicated a willingness to adopt the child.
