Denver police announced Friday afternoon that they have located the mother of a newborn found abandoned Thursday. See Where Restaurant Owner Found Baby
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Should Women Be Allowed To Legally Abandon Babies? After numerous media reports, friends of the mother contacted the police and presented investigators with information about the woman and why they felt that this was her baby. Officers contacted the woman and asked her to report to a Crisis Center, which she did Friday morning. Denver police said that the mother was not under arrest, and no charges have been filed. After appearing in court to give up temporary custody of her son, the mother was taken to Denver Health Center for treatment. She was described as "shaken" and "distraught," and requested permission to see her child. Officials said that she spent a very emotional 45 minutes holding her baby, and expressed deep regret and shame. "Mom has abandoned this baby, I'm not judging her, but we have to take that into consideration," said Donna Good from the Department of Human Health Services. "If mom determined she wanted to keep this baby, she'll have to have parenting classes, declared fit to have this baby." The 23-year-old mother gave no explanation as to why she abandoned her baby near the dumpster, but Good said that the mother is poverty stricken and alone. The unidentified woman gave birth at a location not far from where the baby was found, police said. The baby was born Thursday at 5:50 a.m. and was listed in fair condition at Denver Health Friday afternoon. Nurses have nicknamed him "Buster" and said that other than having jaundice, which is very common in newborns, he is doing well. Hospital officials said that Buster's story has sparked hundreds of phone calls from people wanting to adopt him. He was found Thursday underneath a trash bin in the alley behind a local restaurant at 2202 East Colfax Ave. His umbilical cord was still attached, emergency workers said. "I heard something crying and I looked near the garbage and there was a tiny baby wrapped in a blanket," said Charlie Voong, owner of Grand China restaurant on East Colfax Avenue. Voong found the boy at about 10:30 a.m. when he went out the back door of the restaurant. The baby was taken to Denver Health Medical Center for medical treatment. "It's so rare to see an abandoned child here," said Betty Cathers, spokeswoman for Denver Health. "If we get one a year, that's a lot." Officials said that the baby would remain in the hospital over the weekend, then will go to foster care. State officials do not track the number of abandoned babies. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said that 105 babies were abandoned nationwide in 1998 and that 33 of them died. A Colorado law approved last year gave parents immunity from prosecution if they abandon newborns with a firefighter or with a hospital worker.