Baby found on Sydney beach identified as a girl

The body of a baby discovered in a shallow beach grave in Sydney has been identified as a girl.

Two boys, aged six and seven, playing in the sand dunes at Maroubra beach found the decomposing infant body on Sunday morning.

The baby underwent a postmortem today, revealing it was a girl.

Police continue to search for the infant’s mother.

A day after the baby’s body was found buried 30cm in the dunes at the southern end of the popular beach, Detective Superintendent Gavin Dengate said police were “hamstrung to work out exactly what’s happened”.

He said it was hoped a postmortem would shed light on the child’s age and the events leading up to her death.

“We’re certainly looking to find the cause of death and at this stage we still haven’t got any identification of the child,” he told the Seven Network. “Hopefully from there that will lead and guide us in the direction we need to go.”

Dengate said it could be up to eight weeks before some results from the examination would be known.

Police were searching for the baby’s parents and said they held “grave concerns” for her mother, urging her to come forward.

“We’ll certainly be working further today with hospitals and community workers, other areas where we may be able to gain some insight into someone who may have been pregnant around this time,” he said.

The Maroubra surf life-saving club has offered counselling to the two children who found the body.

The discovery of the baby came a week after cyclists found a baby at the bottom of a stormwater drain in Quakers Hill.

The mother has been charged with attempted murder and is accused of dumping the baby down the drain after giving birth.

The two cases have sparked debate about the need for baby hatches - or baby safe havens - in Australia.

In countries such as China and Germany, the hatches allow families to leave newborns where they can be looked after and put up for adoption, in some cases.

“I see that it’s a solution that is not a high-tech expensive solution,” former Australian Medical Association president Andrew Pesce said.

“I think it’s part of a whole system of things - it can’t be the only solution to this problem,” he said.

In Germany, there is a two-month window for mothers who leave their baby in the hatches to reunite with their child.

Pesce said the hatches would not stop every instance of abandonment but could help mothers and babies at risk.

The Sydney obstetrician said depressive illnesses in mothers could lead to decisions the rest of us could not understand.

Labor senator Helen Polley has started an online petition calling for states and territories to implement baby safe havens.

NSW police minister Stuart Ayres said: “There is no doubt we find ourselves with two cases that are currently under investigation that requires us to think seriously about what we need to help families that are in crisis.”

The Guardian