"Newborn Jane Doe" - Deceased/Abandoned (9/2010) - Winston-Salem NC

Police and Planned Parenthood officials say a dead infant has been found in a blue storage bin outside one of the organization's North Carolina offices.
The body of a white female newborn was found Saturday morning. An autopsy was planned.
Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Melissa Reed said in an e-mail statement that the container had no identifying marks.
                                             Police were asking doctors and hospitals to contact them if a woman is treated and shows signs of having recently given birth.
North Carolina is one of many states that allows the parent of a newborn to give the baby up within seven days of birth to a health care provider without being punished.

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An autopsy on an infant girl who was found dead outside the offices of Planned Parenthood won't be done until Monday, at the earliest, Winston-Salem Police Capt. David Clayton said today.Employees at Planned Parenthood at 3000 Maplewood Avenue called police after finding a blue storage bin with the baby inside early this morning, said Clayton, who is the head of the criminal-investigations unit at the police department.Police officers went to Planned Parenthood at 7:03 a.m. and found the infant girl. Detectives with the police department started investigating.Clayton said police are still trying to find out the identity of the child and the mother. Investigators don't know if the baby was alive when she was born or where the mother gave birth, he said. He also said police won't know a cause of death until the autopsy is done. He declined to comment on whether there were any bruises on the baby, but said the case is being handled as a death investigation. Police haven't found any evidence yet of foul play, Clayton said.Police are asking medical personnel who have any information about a patient who had been treated with symptoms of having recently given birth to call the Winston-Salem Police at 773-7700. Clayton said the health of the mother is a concern so any family members, friends or acquaintances of the mother should call the police department at the above number or Crime Stoppers at 727-2800.Officials with Planned Parenthood said in a statement that they are cooperating with the police department in the investigation."Our hearts and prayers go out to all involved in this tragic situation," they said in the statement.

A preliminary autopsy revealed that a newborn found in a bin outside Planned Parenthood was born alive.Captain David Clayton says at this point it is not known how long the baby lived. The cause of death is still undetermined. Police are waiting for a full autopsy to be completed for those details.Clayton says from information at the scene and the way the infant was left, investigators believe the mother intended to surrender the child safely. He says they are still determining if the mother "followed the intention of the law, but not the letter of the law."Clayton says the 'Safe Surrender' law requires a parent to surrender a child to an individual at a safe location like a hospital, medical clinic, police, or fire department. The parent cannot leave the child unattended.On Saturday morning around 7am, an employee of Planned Parenthood on Maplewood Avenue found the infant's body in a blue bin outside the office.Detectives arrived and determined a baby was inside the bin. The investigation revealed the infant was a newborn, white female.

Newborn's death draws attention to state's safe surrender law

WINSTON-SALEM -- Preliminary autopsy results are back on a newborn baby found dead in Winston-Salem over the weekend. The child was found in a bin outside of a planned parenthood office.

The autopsy shows that the little girl was born alive and may have been premature. The cause of death is still under investigation.

Police continue to look for the mother and they are stressing that the state has a law that allows parents to surrender newborn babies since 2001.

"We do have children who are abandoned and who do die,” said Barbara Page, of the Forsyth Dept. of Social Services “While it's not many per year, you know, one is too many."

State law allows mothers to surrender a baby up to seven days-old at places like health departments.

"They can surrender the child to a responsible adult, a social worker who's on duty, a certified health provider," said Page. "There is a safe method to make sure that child is taken care of, and they won't be prosecuted."

Regardless of the outcome off what happened in the Winston-Salem case, social workers want to make sure that folks are more aware of the safe surrender law.

Officials say people don't even have to give their name, even if the surrender is made at a police or fire department.

Meanwhile, Winston-Salem Police are asking anyone with any information about the case to call Crimestoppers at (336) 727-2800.

http://centralnc.twcnews.com/content/headlines/630324/newborn-s-death-draws-attention-to-state-s-safe-surrender-law/#sthash.utvEGNqo.dpuf

Is this a new case or the one from 2010?