Newborn baby left in drain

Cycleway

The news was too horrible to be true, how could anyone throw a newborn baby down a 7ft drain and walk away? 

But the most incredible thing about this tragic case is that the baby survived for five days of searing heat before being found by a father and daughter cycling past, who thought they heard the distressed sounds of a kitten. 

It's believed that his concrete tomb was cool enough to protect him from the brutal Sydney heatwave that rose to 40C on the day he was found.

The 30 year old mother is from Samoa and came to Australia ten years ago and lives with her aunt and uncle. Her parents and siblings still live in Samoa. 

The whole family is very religious, in fact her father is a Seventh Day Adventist minister.  Nobody knew she was pregnant and the family suspect the father of the child is not Samoan.

But what this woman did is pure evil and unless she is diagnosed as mentally ill, she knew full well when she threw him down there how he would suffer. The Daily Telegraph reports that authorities have given her permission to name the child which is outrageous, she has no right.

A neighbour said the family had lived in the area for a long time and were well-respected, decent people.

Court documents show the baby was placed in the drain on Tuesday - less than 24 hours after he was born in Blacktown hospital.  After giving birth following a 30 hour labour, she left the hospital, caught a bus and train to Quakers Hill and left him there.

Cyclists David Otte and daughter Haley saved the baby's life

The drain was covered by a concrete slab which took six men to lift and the baby was brought out wrapped in the hospital blanket with the peg still attached to his umbilical cord.

Germany, Canada and many other countries have what they call 'baby hatches,' mostly attached to hospitals.  When the mother places the baby inside one of these hatches, she can be assured of its health and safety and the prospect of being adopted into a happy home.

If one of these hatches had been available in Sydney, this woman wouldn't be sitting in jail today, denied bail, with the wrath of the world coming down on her head.