Mother Charged with Attempted Murder for Abandoning 1-day-old Son in Drain

A 30-year-old woman in Sydney has been charged with attempted murder of her newborn child as she allegedly abandoned her less than one-day-old son in a roadside drain. The child lay there for five days before some cyclists heard his cries and rescued him, a police official said Monday.

"We actually thought it was a kitten at first, but when we went down there we could hear exactly what it was? You could definitely tell it was a baby screaming," cyclist David Otte said, News.com reports.  

A Sydney court was informed during a hearing Monday that the mother, Saifale Nai, admitted to leaving her newborn son in a 2.4 meter deep drain, which was within a few minutes' walk of the family home, after having a 30-hour labour. The pit was beside the M7 Motorway in the Sydney suburb of Quakers Hill, a police statement revealed, ABC News reports.

Nai's lawyer was representing her at the Blacktown Local Court as she was absent. He did not apply for bail or even enter a plea to the charge. If convicted, Nai can face up to 25 years in jail. The magistrate officially denied her bail. Nai is supposed to remain in custody until she appears before the Penrith Local Court Friday.

Nai's family said that they had no idea that the baby existed. The child is stable and is recovering in Sydney's Westmead Children's Hospital.  

The accused woman's parents and siblings live in Samoa and she stayed with her extended family in the western suburbs. However, the baby's father has not been found as yet.

"Women who give birth are often isolated and vulnerable and we need to think about how we can better support young mothers who aren't coping," obstetrician Dr Andrew Pesce said.