Reports say that a woman gave birth on a sidewalk in Oregon and then abandoned her baby, walking away covered in blood and amniotic fluid.
According to KOIN, Portland police received word the woman gave birth on Wednesday near Southwest 13th and Market streets.
At the time of the incident, officer Kirby-Glatkowski and his partner were searching the area in search of a serial burglar when they got the alarming call.
“It’s a cold day, it wasn’t raining at that moment, but it was raining earlier and the sidewalk at Southwest 13th and Market is no place to deliver a baby alone,” Kirby-Glatkowski said.
Paramedics “said the mother, the woman, was stumbling away eastbound on Market with a lot of blood and amniotic fluid all over her,” he said.
A mental health evaluation was conducted when the mother was found nearby, according to Portland Police.
“She and her baby, a girl, were transported to the hospital by ambulance,” police said.
Luckily for the mother, Kirby-Glatkowski and his partner served on the department’s Enhanced Crisis Intervention Team, which helps people in mental crisis.
“My partner and I went to try and engage her, contact her, talk to her, see what was going on. We were able, with some additional resources on scene, [to] get her stopped at about 12th and Market and get her into an ambulance and into a hospital for physical assessment and also address other issues,” he told the outlet.
Police bike squad members thanked community members for covering the baby and calling 911 immediately.
“I can’t believe, frankly, that that happened and I’m glad we have [as] safe of a resolution as possible today,” Kirby-Glatkowski said.
