British police seek mother of abandoned twins

Police in Britain have appealed for the mother of newborn twins to come forward after they were abandoned on a hospital car park…

Police in Britain have appealed for the mother of newborn twins to come forward after they were abandoned on a hospital car park.

The infants, a boy and a girl, were discovered by a security guard at Birmingham's Heartlands Hospital at about 9.30am.

A West Midlands Police spokeswoman said: "The babies are alive and one of them is currently receiving medical treatment.

"The scene where they were found has been preserved as a matter of routine. We were called to the hospital just before 9.30am and we are appealing for the mother to come forward."

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The babies were found in a distinctive box decorated with children's cartoons wrapped in a blue sleeping bag. Police are examining CCTV of the hospital car park to try and trace the mother.

Fay Baillie, head of midwifery at the hospital, said she had seen the twins this morning and they were bright and alert.  Midwives have named them Holly and Joseph.

Ms Baillie added: "They are very small but quite bright and alert and they are behaving as you would expect newborn babies to behave. They look stable and look well at the moment but it is early days yet. Within the next 24 hours we will know any problems they may have in the future. They are not showing any signs of infection at the moment."

She said the twins were very cold when they came in but they have warmed up after being in the incubators and have been acting normally since then. She was unable to say how long she thought the babies had been abandoned for but said that it was "probably over an hour" because they were so cold.

Detective Chief Inspector David Wallbank said in a statement: "I would like to appeal to the mother - or anybody who knows her - of twin babies that were found this morning in the car park of Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham.

"The first thing I want to do is reassure the mother that the babies are okay. They are in the hospital and are receiving appropriate medical treatment."

He added that medical staff who had examined the placenta of the babies warned there is a chance that the mother has an infection which requires serious medical attention.

He appealed to the mother saying: "You need to get yourself to a doctor or hospital urgently to have that seen to and have yourself looked after."

PA