Woman detained after abandoning newborn baby in drainpipe

A 26-year-old woman who has admitted to throwing her newborn baby into a drainpipe at her Alicante home was remanded in custody on Wednesday. The woman, who was in hospital being treated for what she had described as a miscarriage, confessed that she placed the baby in a plastic bag and threw him into a pipe because she did not want him.

The child remains in a stable condition. Doctors report that his life is no longer in danger, despite having been abandoned for up to 40 hours. He weighed only 2.1 kilos (4.62 pounds) at birth and still had his umbilical cord attached when he was rescued.

A neighbor from the Virgen del Carmen neighborhood raised the alarm with the police on Sunday, thinking there was a cat stuck inside the drain.

Police have charged the mother with attempted murder

Police have charged the mother with attempted murder and are still trying to determine if a third party was involved. Upon confessing, the woman explained that she had not wanted the child but didn’t have the money for an abortion.

The fact that nobody heard the cries of the infant for almost two days may be explained by the noise from local celebrations that took place in the town last week.

According to city council security chief Juan Seva, it is still unknown who will be given custody of the newborn. Currently, officials are evaluating the infant’s family and social environment in order to assure he receives the best care possible.