Woman who reported found baby is infant’s mother

By Jennifer P. Rendon

Police investigators confirmed that the same person who claimed to have found an abandoned newborn turned out to be the infant’s mother.

A 20-year-old woman identified as “Ana Mae” earlier told relatives she discovered the baby boy at an empty pigpen near their house in Barangay Anonang, Leon, Iloilo, on the morning of Oct. 4.

Her aunt, Medalyn, and a local government ambulance rushed the infant to Aleosan District Hospital in Alimodian.

Lt. Mark Cortez, Leon deputy chief of police, said hospital authorities informed them about the case of an abandoned child around 10 a.m. Saturday.

Members of the Leon police Women and Children’s Protection Desk then went to the area where the child was reportedly abandoned.

When they talked to Ana Mae, she appeared anxious and stammered while answering questions.

Bloodstains on the lower back of her clothes and dried blood on the back of her leg led police to suspect she had given birth to the baby boy.

It was not long before she admitted she was the child’s mother. She allegedly gave birth without any assistance.

The infant still had his placenta and umbilical cord attached when he was rushed to the hospital.

Ana Mae, who lives in Passi City but was staying with relatives in Leon, said she was ashamed of what happened to her.

Cortez said the woman did not elaborate further. She apparently hid her pregnancy until she gave birth.

Authorities learned that Ana Mae has another child who is about to turn 2 years old.

She is already separated from that child’s father. It was not known if the same man fathered the newborn.

Cortez said the baby is in stable condition and has been turned over to the custody of the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office.