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| Woman sentenced for abandoning baby in Birmingham park | Woman sentenced for abandoning baby in Birmingham park |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A woman who dumped her newborn baby in a plastic bag in a Birmingham park has been spared prison. | A woman who dumped her newborn baby in a plastic bag in a Birmingham park has been spared prison. |
| The child, thought to be just 24 hours old when she was abandoned, was discovered by a dog walker in Stechford Park in October. | The child, thought to be just 24 hours old when she was abandoned, was discovered by a dog walker in Stechford Park in October. |
| She was named Jade by hospital staff, after the dog that found her, and later put into foster care. | She was named Jade by hospital staff, after the dog that found her, and later put into foster care. |
| The 27-year-old mother was given a six-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, with two years supervision. | The 27-year-old mother was given a six-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, with two years supervision. |
| The woman, who said she had been suffering post-natal depression, pleaded guilty to wilfully abandoning the baby in a hearing at Birmingham Crown Court in May. | The woman, who said she had been suffering post-natal depression, pleaded guilty to wilfully abandoning the baby in a hearing at Birmingham Crown Court in May. |
| West Midlands Police said the baby could have died within an hour if she had not been found, due to her low body temperature. | |
| The girl was discovered wrapped in a towel inside a bag in a bush by Roger Wilday, who was out walking his German shepherd dog in Stechford Park on 31 October. | |
| Sentencing the woman, Judge Simon Drew at Birmingham Crown Court said the mother had acted in "panic and desperation". | |
| The court heard she gave birth to the baby on the bathroom floor at her mother's home. | |
| 'Very vulnerable' | |
| She had hidden the pregnancy from her family and did not involve medical professionals because she was scared and feared she could not cope. | |
| The court was also told she had other children and had broken up with their father. | |
| The judge said: "The defendant was suffering from postal natal depression. When her partner left things began to spiral out of control." | |
| He said she feared her children would be taken away from her and decided to conceal the pregnancy. | |
| The court was told following the birth, the woman washed and fed the baby before taking her to the park and leaving her behind bushes in a carrier bag. | |
| Judge Drew said she was "very young, hours old and therefore very vulnerable". | |
| The baby, now almost nine months old, has been renamed and is in foster care, police said. |