abandonedbaby

Scores on social media are offering to adopt the newborn boy who was found in bushes off Marshall Road, calling him a “miracle baby.”

The baby found abandoned is now safe and in government custody, as so many react with shock, compassion, and offers to adopt him.

With an umbilical cord still attached and wrapped around the neck, he was discovered by passerby Acharra Gaitor, who was walking in the area when he heard cries. After searching nearby bushes, he found the baby lying face down and crying.

“I heard a cry and the rain came down,” Gaitor said. “When I looked, he was humped over.”

Police say the baby is alive and was taken to the hospital for care.

He is now in the custody of the Department of Social Services while authorities search for his mother.

Chief Superintendent Darron Nixon, officer in charge of the Carmichael Police Station, said investigators believe the mother may be in distress and urged her to come forward.

“Mothers should not have to endure this kind of trauma,” he said.

“She needs to know that there is help for this, and we’re not blaming her. The child is alive, and there’s help for this situation.”

The case highlights how fear, shame, or desperation can push women into situations where they can feel helpless.

Featured Image: The Tribune

The Department of Social Services is still trying to locate the mother of a baby boy found in an abandoned house at the back of the Church of the Nazarene on East Street.

What happened

• Shortly after 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, a baby boy who appeared to be approximately four days old, was found wrapped in a blanket at the rear of the church.
• Construction workers found the baby boy and an anonymous caller alerted police.

What neighbors say

67-year-old Edward Fox who lived in the neighbourhood for more than 40 years, told the Nassau Guardian, “Why she want a boyfriend if she can’t take care of children?

“That don’t make any sense. And you don’t know what that child could grow up to be.”

Fox said he has never seen something like this happened in the neighbourhood.

A 52-year-old Linda Darville said, “I don’t know who would do that. I ain’t see nobody. That’s the first time they have ever dropped a baby in the area. I’ve never seen that.”

And 53-year-old Leonard Neely said, “The mothers really need to take more responsibility for their kids. This is a nice, beautiful area, nice community we living through. We don’t have them things happen through here. So, it really shocked the whole community.”

What happens to the child now that he was found

• The child becomes a ward of the state and is in the Children’s Ward at the Princess Margaret Hospital.
• The Ministry of Social Services has the legal right to make decisions for the child.
• The child can enter a children’s home at 6 weeks, where he will most likely end up.
• Adoption will not occur until a relative of the child comes forward.

Social services and police are appealing to the mother to come forward so that she receives the requisite medical care.

Free assistance is given to pregnant women through the Department of Social Services Hotlines: 322-2763 or 422-2763.