A woman who abandoned her newborn baby on a doorstep in subzero temperatures in the Canadian Prairie city of Saskatoon was isolated and confused, police said Tuesday.
The baby girl, bundled in a towel and blanket, was in good health after being left outside the home of a retired construction worker and a nurse on Saturday morning, when the temperature was -22 F.
Police found the mother late Monday after receiving a call from an “uninvolved third party,” Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, police Staff Sgt. Kirby Harmon told reporters.
She is an 18-year-old student living alone in Saskatoon, police spokeswoman Alyson Edwards said.
“She has no local family support, and she comes from a very difficult background,” Edwards said.
The woman, who felt isolated and confused, delivered the baby on her own at home, and then dropped it off early in the morning at a house in her neighborhood that had lights on and a dog that was barking, Harmon said.
“As a result of the barking dog, she felt comfortable that somebody would come to the door and find the baby,” he said.
Authorities are considering whether to bring criminal charges, he said.
