"Rescuers save newborn from sewage pipe in China" Associated Press, May 29, 2013
BEIJING — A newborn’s cries from a public restroom in a residential building in eastern China led to a startling discovery: The baby boy was trapped in a sewage pipe beneath a squat toilet.
Firefighters, unable to pull the baby out, ended up sawing away a section of the pipe and carrying it to a hospital, where it was delicately pried apart to save the infant.
Video of the two-hour rescue of Baby No. 59 — so named because of his incubator number in the hospital in the city of Jinhua — was shown on Chinese news programs and websites Monday and Tuesday.
A 22-year-old woman who raised the initial alarm about the trapped newborn has confessed to police that she is the infant’s mother, the state-run Zhejiang News website said. The woman, whose name was not revealed in state media reports, was questioned after police searched her rented room and found toys and blood-stained toilet paper, the report said.
The single woman, a tenant in the building, told police she could not afford an abortion and secretly delivered the child in the toilet. She said the newborn slipped into the sewer line and she alerted her landlord of the trapped baby after she could not pull the child out, Zhejiang News said
The baby, who weighed 6 pounds, 2.8 ounces, had a low heart rate and some minor abrasions on his head and limbs, according to Zhejiang Online, the province’s official news site.
News of the baby’s ordeal was met with horror and pity by bloggers on Chinese sites.
The rescue prompted an outpouring from strangers who came to the hospital with diapers, baby clothes, powdered milk, and offers to adopt him.
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"Confession adds to baby rescue saga" by DIDI TANG | Associated Press, May 30, 2013
BEIJING — The mother of the newborn trapped in a sewer pipe in a stunning ordeal caught on video had raised the initial alarm and was present for the entire two-hour rescue but did not admit giving birth until confronted by police, reports said Wednesday.
The state-run, Hangzhou-based newspaper Dushikuaibao said police became suspicious when they found baby toys and blood-stained toilet paper in the 22-year-old woman’s rented room in the building where Saturday’s rescue occurred in eastern China.
The woman, whose name was not revealed in state media reports, confessed to police when they asked her to undergo a medical checkup.
The woman told police she could not afford an abortion and secretly delivered the child in the toilet. She said she tried to catch the baby but he slipped into the sewer line and that she alerted her landlord of the trapped baby after she could not pull the child out, the Jinhua-based Zhezhong News said.
Video of the rescue of Baby No. 59 — so named because of his incubator number in the hospital — was shown on Chinese programs and websites starting Monday and picked up worldwide, prompting both horror and an outpouring of charity on behalf of the newborn. The mother’s reported confession raises questions about whether she intended to abandon the baby, while suggesting she was desperate and did not know what to do.
The baby had a low heart rate and some minor abrasions but was mostly unhurt, according to reports.
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"Charges unlikely after baby trapped in pipe in China; Chinese officials say boy fell into toilet accidentally" by Didi Tang | Associated Press, May 31, 2013
BEIJING — The mother of a baby boy who was rescued from a sewer pipe beneath a restroom in China shortly after birth is unlikely to face criminal charges because authorities concluded he fell into the toilet accidentally, local officials and media reports said Thursday.
The baby was released from a hospital to his maternal grandparents late Wednesday, while his 22-year-old mother remains under medical care, the state-run Jinhua Evening News reported, in an account confirmed by a local police official who declined to give his name.
The baby’s two-hour rescue from a pipe underneath a squat toilet in Zhejiang Province’s Pujiang county captivated the world, prompting an outpouring of charity on his behalf.
The mother initially raised the alarm about the baby when he got stuck Saturday in a pipe just below a squat toilet in a public restroom of a residential building, but she had cleaned the room of signs of a birth and did not immediately come forward as the mother, officials have been quoted as saying.
She admitted she was the mother two days later when confronted by police who found baby toys and blood-stained tissues in her apartment, the reports said.
Police later concluded that the incident was an accident and that the woman did not initially come forward because she was frightened, but that she later started telling the truth, the Jinhua Evening News and a Pujiang county propaganda official said. The police initially treated the case as a possible attempted homicide, but now are unlikely to file criminal charges, the newspaper said.
A man tracked down by police who is believed to be the father has requested a paternity test and, if the baby is his, is willing to help support the child, said the Pujiang official.
Officials have not publicly released the names of anyone connected with the case.
The woman told police she got pregnant after a brief affair with the man, hid her pregnancy, and secretly delivered the child Saturday in a restroom. She said the infant accidentally slipped into the squat toilet and — after cleaning up the scene — she raised the alarm.
The baby, who weighed 6 pounds, 3 ounces, had a low heart rate and some minor abrasions on his head and limbs, but was mostly uninjured, according to local reports.
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