A woman has told police she dumped her newborn baby in a stormwater drain in Sydney's west, knowing it may kill him. The incident has led to calls for hospitals to introduce baby hatches.
Common in Europe, baby hatches are fitted to the outer walls of hospitals allow women to abandon their babies anonymously but without endangering the life of the child.
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Declan Hannigan adopted baby Ciara when she was placed in a Budapest baby hatch in 2012. She was only one day old.
Mr Hannigan told SBS he was relieved Ciara's mother chose that option.
"She knew she couldn't handle it and she made a decision to put the child in a place that she knew it would be looked after," he said. "I really respect that woman for the choice that she made.
"I think it is a much lesser evil to put your child in a baby hatch than to be forced to abandon your child into a cold bin, or to somewhere where they're going to be in danger, or die."
What it's like to adopt a 'baby hatch' infant
Some campaigners say the baby hatch should be trialled in Australia.
"It shouldn't be the only option by any stretch of the imagination, we need other support during pregnancy and after the birth," said University of Canberra’s Lorana Bartels, who has done extensive research on the topic. "But I think we should trial it."
Social workers are also advocating for vulnerable parents to receive more support.
Dr Karen Healy from the Australian Association of Social Workers told SBS secrecy and shame over a pregnancy are usually factors at play. She said it was crucial for services to support women before, during and after birth.
“We need to have midwifery and other outreach support services to those woman during the course of their pregnancy, in some way it is almost too late to put those services in place once the child has been born.
Q&A: Greg Dyett speaks with Dr Karen Healy from the Australian Association of Social Workers
Sydney mother charged over infant's death
The 30-year-old Sydney mother, who is charged with the attempted murder of the infant, did not appear for a brief hearing at Blacktown Local Court on Monday.
She remains in custody and is due to appear at Penrith Court on Friday.
"The accused makes full admissions to putting the baby down the drain knowing it may kill the baby," court documents said.
The offence of attempted murder carries a maximum sentence of 25 years.
The mother lives at Quakers Hill with relatives but her parents are in Samoa.
A group of people who are believed to be her family members attended court on Monday but did not talk to reporters as they left.
The court heard the boy was born in the early hours of Tuesday before being placed in the Quakers Hill drain. He was found five days later by a passing cyclist.
He's now in a stable condition at a children's hospital in Sydney's west and in the care of NSW Family and Community Services.
Police will allege the baby was squeezed through the drain's narrow opening and dropped about 2.4 metres.
The baby was discovered, wrapped in a striped hospital blanket, down the drain on the side of a bike track along the M7 motorway just after 7.30am on Sunday.
Police doubt he would have survived Sunday's 40 degree heat.
"It was already undernourished, and dehydration would have taken effect, so we would have had grave fears for the child's welfare had it been exposed to this weather for the rest of the day," Inspector David Lagats said.
Cyclist David Otte, out riding with his daughter, said he was meant to find the little boy.
"We're not heroes or anything. We would have done it for anybody but we were just glad that we were there," Mr Otte told Fairfax Radio.
