Mum arrested after abandoning her newborn baby in special care baby unit

A baby's mum, still dressed in her hospital gown, gave birth and then just walked out of the hospital, leaving her newborn baby behind in the special care baby unit.

Police arrested her and the father of the child, after they were tracked down in the street.

Hospital chiefs raised the alarm after discovering the parents, both aged around 40, had left the building without notifying staff.

The couple’s child was born premature in Spain and was kept in a specialist unit while her mum was taken to a room on a general ward.

The British mum still had her hospital dressing gown on when she and her partner were tracked down to the nearby town of Fuente de Piedra, where they moved earlier this year to join her elderly dad.

 A spokesman for Spain’s National Police, in the only official comment so far by Spanish authorities, have said: “Officers have arrested a British man and woman on suspicion of a crime of child abandonment.

“On Thursday afternoon police received an alert from Antequera Hospital informing them a woman had given birth during the night and had just left the hospital, leaving her child there without saying anything to medical staff.

The newborn has been temporarily taken into care while a decision is taken on her long-term future.

Sources said her health was “good” despite being born prematurely.