An emergency medicine physician at Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Broward Health Medical Center discovered a newborn baby inside a garbage can in a bathroom at the facility earlier this month, according to the Sun Sentinel.
Police said the baby’s mother, Rubi Ramirez, 25, arrived at the hospital Oct. 5 citing abdominal pain. While waiting for her appointment, Ms. Ramirez's mother said she discovered her daughter bleeding in the bathroom and called hospital staff.
Judson N. Krosney, MD, who was supposed to treat Ms. Ramirez, told police he saw nurses congregate in the bathroom. He said he asked Ms. Ramirez if she was pregnant and she told him she was not. Dr. Krosney reportedly said he did not believe her, began searching the restroom and found the baby "in a plastic-lined garbage can, beneath a pile of bloodied paper towels," the report states. The newborn was reportedly carried to term and was alive and breathing when Dr. Krosney discovered the child.
In several interviews with police, Ms. Ramirez initially claimed she didn't know she was pregnant and that the baby "fell" into the garbage can. She told police she called for help and alerted hospital staff to the baby's location, according to the report.
Ms. Ramirez later confessed to police she knew she was pregnant before arriving at the hospital and admitted she placed the child in the garbage can.
Police arrested Ms. Ramirez Oct. 5 and charged her with abuse of a child without great bodily harm and desertion of a child. A judge granted her a $5,000 bond and ordered Ms. Ramirez to abstain from contacting the child, the report states.
A lawyer on behalf of Ms. Ramirez reportedly filed a not guilty plea in court on her behalf. Ms. Ramirez has been held in a hospital since her arrest.