Hospital employees found the baby in the trash “shortly after delivery” on Sunday, a university spokesman told the QC Times.
It is unclear if the woman was a patient at the hospital during the incident, according to the report. She did not know she was pregnant prior to giving birth and believed the baby was stillborn because it was not crying, the QC Times reported.
Officers confronted the woman, who admitted to placing the child in the trash. She was arrested and faces child endangerment charges, which could come with two years in prison.
Iowa has a “safe haven” law, allowing people to leave a newborn (up to 14 days old) at a hospital or healthcare facility without punishment.
