It is a distressing story of abandonment and an amazing story of survival, says the BBC’s Phil Mercer in Sydney.<\/p>\n
Police doubt the baby would have survived much longer, given that in the past few days Sydney has had record breaking temperatures in excess of 40C, he adds.<\/p>\n
David Otte and his daughter were alerted to the baby’s crying as they cycled near the M7 motorway at Quakers Hill on Sunday morning, according to local reports.<\/p>\n
“It was so intense. You couldn’t not tell it was a baby,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Mr Otte as saying.<\/p>\n
![\"Newborn](\"http:\/\/news.bbcimg.co.uk\/media\/images\/79217000\/jpg\/_79217988_baby-pixelated.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
The baby boy was wrapped in what appeared to be a hospital blanket when he was found<\/strong><\/div>\n![\"Drain](\"http:\/\/news.bbcimg.co.uk\/media\/images\/79217000\/jpg\/_79217833_de27-1.jpg\")
The cyclists said they “couldn’t see it but we could hear it”<\/strong><\/div>\n“We couldn’t see it but we could hear it. It was distressed.”<\/p>\n
Police said they found the mother after checking hospital records and knocking on doors in the local area.<\/p>\n
Local police inspector David Lagats described the discovery of the baby as “disturbing”.<\/p>\n
He told reporters the baby was found wrapped in a striped blanket similar to what is given to newborn babies in hospital.<\/p>\n
“The umbilical cord had been cut and had been clamped so there appears to have been some sort of medical intervention since his birth,” he added.<\/p>\n
The mother of the baby was represented legally in a Sydney court on Monday but did not appear in person, ABC reports.<\/p>\n
She has been formally denied bail and is expected to appear in court on Friday.<\/p>\n
The local magistrate reportedly recommended the mother receive post-natal care whilst in custody.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Australian police have charged a 30-year-old woman with attempted murder after she abandoned her newborn baby in a drain in western Sydney. They say the baby boy, who is in a serious but stable condition, may have survived up to five days in the drain. He was discovered 2.5m (8ft) down inside the pit by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":67923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[14],"yoast_head":"\n