A woman has been charged with attempted murder following the discovery of a newborn baby boy in a drain in Sydney’s west.
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The 30-year-old woman has been refused bail and is set to appear in Blacktown Local Court on Monday.
Despite earlier estimates that the boy was 2-3 days old, police will now allege that he is seven days old and was placed into the drain on Tuesday, 24 hours after being born.
If the allegation is true it means he has survived in the drain for five days before being found by a passing cyclist on Sunday morning.
The baby is now in a serious but stable condition at the Westmead Children’s Hospital.
Police suspect the baby was squeezed through the drain’s narrow opening in Quakers Hill and dropped about 2.4 metres.
The baby was discovered down the drain on the side of a bike track along the M7 motorway after cyclists heard cries about 7.30am on Sunday.
After several people lifted the heavy slab, the baby boy — wrapped in a striped hospital blanket with his umbilical cord cut and clamped — was found at the bottom.
“It was disturbing (to see) how the child was placed in the drain,” Quakers Hill police Inspector David Lagats said on Sunday."
“We all thought the worst but the baby was still alive.”
The baby is now in the care of the NSW Family and Community Services (FACS) Minister.
It will be up to the state agency to assess what now happens to him.
