It can’t be easy being a teenager with an unwanted baby. “Teenage pregnancy what to do next?” is definitely a common and scary question teen moms must ask.
A heartbreaking incident of a newborn baby being dumped in Thailand has only cemented the fact that there are always alternatives to dumping a helpless, unwanted baby.
Cries heard in a banana orchard
A baby girl barely a few hours old, was flung by her teenage mother from a fifth floor balcony.
Residents in an apartment block in central Thailand, heard the unmistakable cries of a newborn baby on the morning of 1 October.
The apartment block where the baby was thrown from. | Image Source: Daily Mail
They scrambled over a fence which was two metres high which enclosed a banana orchard at the back of the apartments. There, neighbours found the newborn girl with her placenta and umbilical cord still attached to her tiny body.
Miraculously, the little one was alive.
Safe and Sound
The baby survived the fall without any serious wounds because the leaves of the banana trees broke her fall, acting like cushions. Police found her with only light grazes, scratches and covered with mosquito bites.
Hang Konhaan, a 55-year-old neighbour, stated that she first noticed the baby’s cries at about 10.30am – but disregarded them as unimportant. It was only after she talked to one of the other neighbors that they both examined the scene.
“We found the little baby on the floor and she was crying. There were some broken leaves next to her, which saved her life,” said Hang.
Hang remarked that said that she recognised the newborn’s young mom appearance when she was pregnant, but she didn’t know her personally.
Harsh consequences for the mom
Officers then interrogated the owner of the apartment. Presently, they are looking for the teen mom, who may be accused for attempted murder.
Amnat Charoen, a Liteunant Colonel of Samrong Nua’s district police station, remarked that police officers were informed of the baby’s discovery in the banana orchard near the apartments at about 11am.
“Underneath the banana tree area was a baby and their placenta. There were many mosquitoes and ants on his body. She had a rash and some redness. There were signs that that baby had fallen from a height,” he explains.
According to Amnat, investigations revealed that it was a teenager who privately delivered the baby girl in one of the rooms of the fifth floor.
Thankfully, the baby is currently receiving treatment. ‘The baby is being cared for in hospital, but she is safe and recovering well. She is healthy,” says Amnat.
The abandoned baby, with a carer and police. There’s always an answer to the question, “teenage pregnancy what to do next” and there are always options and support available in place of abandonment. | Image Source
Teenage pregnancy what to do next: Think carefully
Although we don’t know why the teen mom threw her baby away, it’s very likely didn’t know that she had options available. She could have also found out too late that she was pregnant or had no one to turn to.
Young mothers and moms-to-be should know there’s always help available.
- Keeping the pregnancy? You might want to start thinking about antenatal care.
- Terminating the pregnancy? Consult your OB or a sexual health clinic to talk things through so that you know what the choices are. Medical professionals in these settings can pass you over to other medical institutions, like a clinic or hospital, for a follow-up evaluation.
Reference: ChiangRai Times. Images were screenshots from Dailymail.
Also read: Have Our Teenage Girls Gone Bad?