Police in Maryland are investigating why a newborn baby girl was left alone in the woods without so much as a diaper.
The baby was rescued in Silver Spring, Maryland, on Friday when a passerby heard her crying from a nearby street, police said. The baby’s cries may have saved her life.
“He went to investigate the sound and found a naked baby approximately ten feet from the sidewalk in the woods,” the Montgomery County Department of Police said in a statement on Friday. “The female newborn was transported to a local hospital where she is in stable condition.”
Medical personnel at the hospital said the baby appeared to be just a few hours old. Investigators located the child’s mother on Sunday, but they have not determined why the baby was left naked and unattended.
Police said the mother was receiving medical care at a hospital, but did not offer details on her condition. The baby was listed in stable condition as of Sunday evening.
The department said its Special Investigations division is handling the ongoing probe and said “no additional information will be released at this time.”
It also shared a link to the Maryland Department of Human Resources website to make residents aware of the state’s safe haven law.
The law allows a “distressed parent” who is unable or unwilling to care for their infant to surrender custody of the baby with no questions asked.
Under the law, a parent, or another adult with the approval of the mother, has up to 10 days from birth to anonymously leave a baby with a responsible adult at a designated Safe Haven location, according to the Department of Human Resources.
“In Maryland, no one ever has to abandon a newborn baby,” Department of Human Resources said in a statement. “A person who invokes Safe Haven is immune from civil liability or criminal prosecution provided the child is unharmed.”
