Mother Throws Newborn Baby From 5th Story Balcony, Baby Survives

International   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Oct 2, 2018   |   11:27AM   |   Bangkok, Thailand

An abandoned newborn baby survived a fifth-story fall into a banana orchard Monday morning in Thailand, according to police.

The Daily Mail reports police in Samut Prakan in central Thailand are searching for the mother, who is believed to be a teenager.

Local residents said they found the baby in the banana orchard after hearing the infant’s cries. According to the report, the banana leaves cushioned the baby’s fall and protected the baby from serious harm.

Police said the placenta and umbilical cord still were attached to the newborn when residents found him/her. Authorities said the baby sustained minor scratches and was covered with mosquitoes and ants when local residents found the baby.

The infant now is in the hospital and doing well, according to the report.

Local residents said they heard the baby cry and at least one of them climbed over a 7-foot fence into the banana orchard to rescue the infant. Police believe the baby was thrown from a fifth-story window in the apartment building that borders the orchard.

“I first heard the cries at 10:30 a.m. but didn’t pay much attention to them. Then I spoke to another neighbor and we went to check,” local resident Hang Konhaan said. “We found the little baby on the floor and he was crying. There were some broken leaves next to him, which saved his life.”

Hang Konhaan referred to the baby as a “he,” but other parts of the report refer to the baby as a “she.”

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Police said they still are searching for the mother. Local residents identified her as a teenager who lived in the building and was heavily pregnant. She could face attempted murder charges.

Infant abandonment and infanticide are problems across the world. Earlier this summer, LifeNews reported about another baby being abandoned in a grave yard in the Philippines.

Many countries have laws and programs to help desperate mothers who otherwise may abandon their babies. In the United States, safe haven laws allow mothers in crisis to leave their newborns in a safe environment, such as a hospital or fire station, without questions or repercussions.

Between 2004 and 2011, about 50 infants in Texas were surrendered under its safe haven law, according to the Dallas Morning News. The United States does not keep statistics about the number of babies saved through safe haven laws, though experts estimate the number to be in the thousands.

Other countries have baby drop boxes that allow women to surrender their infants. These specially made boxes are designed to keep the baby warm and comfortable, and most are equipped with an alarm to alert authorities of the baby’s presence.