The family who found a newborn baby girl abandoned in the backyard of their western Sydney home have detailed their heroic efforts to save her life.
Lara, the sister of Blacktown mum Anne Carlos, was hanging up washing on their clothesline when she heard the faint cries of the hours-old infant on Friday afternoon.
The baby girl was left unclothed on the family’s back patio and was still covered in bodily fluids from birth.
The shock discovery prompted Ms Carlos to immediately call for help, with the mother telling The Daily Telegraph in an exclusive interview how she cut the baby’s umbilical cord.
“I couldn’t find anything in the kitchen, so I grabbed a shoelace and used that … then they [the paramedics] talked me through how to do it,” she told the paper.
Ms Carlos, alongside her sister and mother, coddled the crying baby who they wrapped in a warm towel before loosely dressing her in clothes they had lying around the house.
“We knew she had been born very recently, like only hours earlier, because she still had the white stuff [vernix] on her head,” she said.
The family believe the baby was quickly cleaned up before she was put in their backyard as there “wasn’t a lot of blood”.
Ms Carlos, who has her own young daughter, 11-month-old Skye, doesn’t know why the baby girl was left in their Girra Rd backyard, with the family only moving into the house a week earlier.
She recalled hearing the side gate close “loudly” but at first didn’t think much of it as Ms Carlos assumed it was her brother-in-law.
“Now we realise that must have been the mum or whoever left the baby here, and they closed it loudly so we would go out and find her,” she said.
“You don’t bang a gate closed if you don’t want to be heard.”
The family’s comments come as NSW Police continue their search for the baby’s mother 72 hours after the incident, with concerns held for her health.
“Don’t be scared to come forward, because all we want to do is help you,” NSW Police Acting Inspector David McInerney said at a press conference.
He stressed the mother will not face any trouble from police if she comes forward.
“Please contact [police] or attend hospital or ring an ambulance.”
Inspector McInerney said childbirth can be very “traumatic” and any woman that has given birth and abandoned their child within hours must need help.
“We are concerned about her health, safety and wellbeing and just want to help,” Inspector McInerney said.
Investigators are looking for any indications of childbirth in the area and are appealing for witnesses who may have seen a woman in the neighbourhood after midday to come forward.
Police believe the mother would have been visibly pregnant and showing signs of distress.
The department of communities and justice have assumed long-term care of the child who is under observation in Blacktown Hospital.
It’s understood she is in a “fine and healthy” condition.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.