Baby found dead in Portsmouth 'not born in hospital'

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-51284495

Version 0 of 1.

A newborn baby found dead in a street was not born in hospital, police have said.

The body of the girl was discovered at the junction of Victoria Street and Old Commercial Street in Portsmouth at about 06:15 GMT on Saturday.

A post-mortem has proved inconclusive and more tests will be carried out to determine the cause of death.

Police are appealing for help tracing the baby's mother who may need medical attention.

Hampshire Constabulary confirmed the child was white and born at 39 weeks, which is full-term.

'Deeply distressing'

Insp Louise Tester said: "This is an incredibly complex investigation with many different aspects to it but the welfare of the mum still remains our number one priority.

"We have a dedicated team from across the force working hard on this and we want to make sure that mum is getting the medical help and emotional support she needs.

"This will be a deeply distressing time for mum and while physically she may feel OK, the after-effects of birth can be far-reaching and symptoms may only start to appear days later."

Officers are reviewing CCTV from the Buckland estate area and officers are conducting house-to-house inquiries.

They are also trying to trace five people seen on CCTV walking through Old Commercial Road between 05:00 and 06:18.

Det Ch Insp Simon Baker said: "Please contact us. Whether you saw anything or not, it helps us to build our picture of what has happened."