Baby Karli Hawthorne was under police guard in a hospital maternity ward last night after her kidnap ordeal as her parents refused to let her out of their sight. Karli's mother Tanya and her boyfriend, Karl Hawthorne, were making up for the vital 14 hours they lost when their daughter was snatched from her cot at Basildon Hospital in Essex, just hours after she was born on Friday.
Ms Denise Giddings (33), a mother-of-three, will appear before magistrates at Basildon today charged with abduction. She was arrested at her £150,000 fourbedroomed detached house in Langdon Hills, Basildon, early on Saturday after detectives recovered Karli fit and well.
The baby was immediately returned to her parents and made a brief appearance before press and TV cameras, cradled safely in the arms of her father.
Karli spent yesterday in a cot at her mother's bedside in the maternity unit at Basildon Hospital. Security is tight, with two police officers guarding Willow Ward where the family is staying.
One male officer stands at the door to the ward while a female colleague keeps a closer watch on the family. A third officer is posted at the entrance to the building, checking the identification of everyone entering the unit.
Both mother and baby are said to be doing well and are expected to be discharged on Wednesday.
Tanya gave birth by Caesarean section at 9.50 a.m. on Friday and her 6 lb 15 oz baby was snatched shortly after 1 p.m.
Mr Hawthorne is expected to stay with Tanya (30) and their daughter until they can all travel back home together. A hospital spokeswoman said: "After a Caesarean, most people are normally kept in for four to five days. There is certainly not any reason that I am aware of why this should change. It will be Tuesday or Wednesday before she is discharged."
A spokeswoman for Essex Police said its officers were in the ward for the family's protection and had not been requested by the hospital. She added that all three will stay until Tanya is discharged.
Ms Geraldine Evans, landlady at The Barge, a pub on the Vange Estate in Basildon, said her regulars were looking forward to staging a welcome-home party for the family. She said: "I think we will do something when Karl is home and Tanya is out of hospital, so the whole family can join in. If he wants a big party we will have one, but Karl is a very private man so if he wants a quiet pint, we will have that."