Newborn found naked on top of parked car 2-26-10 Edison, NJ

[Nut44x4]

This child should be named 'Lucky'. Lucky to be alive...

Mother of abandoned infant still being sought in Edison
By Brent Johnson/For The Star-Ledger
March 01, 2010
EDISON -- Authorities today were searching hospitals and schools for a woman who may have just given birth in an effort to find the mother of an abandoned newborn boy discovered left naked on the hood of a car in Edison during Friday’s frigid snowstorm.

Officials said the infant was in good condition today at John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Edison.

“He’s doing well,” Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Christie Bevacqua said.

Authorities have searched the car and surrounding areas for clues about who the mother may be, Bevacqua said.

“We’re looking for females who showed up at a hospital complaining of symptoms related to just giving birth,” she said.

A visitor heard the baby crying outside CareOne at The Highlands, a nursing home on Inman Avenue, around 1:30 p.m. Friday, Bevacqua said. It was lying in a towel atop the car.

Staff members brought the baby inside, where he stayed for 10 minutes until an ambulance arrived, said Tim Hodges, a CareOne spokesman.

Officials said the baby was likely born within 24 hours of its discovery. They are not sure how long the baby was left outside, but hospital officials said it would have been difficult for an infant to have survived in that weather for longer than an hour.

Ken Herman, the director of JFK’s emergency department, said the baby was lucky to survive. A baby’s body loses heat quicker than an adult’s, he said, and once the air temperature is below freezing, survivability drops sharply if the infant is exposed for more than an hour, he added.

“Any baby left exposed to the elements in severely cold weather has a very low life expectancy,” Herman said.

Nearly a decade ago, New Jersey legislators passed the Safe Haven Protection Act, making it legal to abandon newborns at hospitals or police stations. CareOne is largely used as a rehabilitation and assistant living facility for senior citizens.

“I don’t know if people felt they were bringing the baby to a safe haven,” Herman said. “If they did, they certainly fell a bit short by leaving the baby exposed.”
http://www.nj.com/news/local/index.ssf/2010/03/mother_of_abandoned_infant_sti.html

[Nut44x4]

Original/First story....



Newborn is found naked on top of parked car in Edison

February 26, 2010, 9:31PM

EDISON - A naked baby boy was found lying on the hood of a parked car in Edison this afternoon, seemingly left lying there as the state thawed from a powerful nor’easter, authorities said.

A visitor to an Edison nursing home, CareOne at Highlands located on Inman Ave., found the infant, who authorities believe is a newborn, lying on a towel atop the hood of the car shortly before 2 p.m., said Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan.

The child remains in good condition at John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Edison, according to Kaplan, and will be placed in the custody of the state Division of Youth and Family Services while police try to track down relatives.

The baby weights seven pounds, eight ounces, and is 21 inches long, said Kaplan.

Anyone with information about the baby is asked to call Detective Al Sciarrillo of the Edison Police Department at (732) 248-7561, or Investigator Daniel Ruschak of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at (732) 745-3600.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/02/newborn_is_found_naked_on_top.html