People working the night shift at a bakery heard screams coming from an alleyway early Friday morning. They rushed outside to find a woman in labor near a loading dock in an industrial area of Ventura.
When they arrived on the scene around 1 a.m. in the 4200 block of Transport Street, witnesses said the woman cut the umbilical cord, placed the newborn on the ground and ran away into the darkness.
Jaime Benavides, one of the first workers from the bakery to see what was happening, said that he watched the woman remove her pants in the parking lot and give birth to a baby boy.
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“His head was visible, just inside the pants,” Benavides said. "They were pressing against his nose.”
After the woman ran away, Benavides found the baby left inside the woman's pants.
“I feel bad for the mom,” he said. “She didn’t appear to be well and looked like she was unhoused, but I’m glad the baby is okay."
Witnesses called 911 and cared for the baby until paramedics arrived and could take the infant to a hospital for treatment. The baby is expected to survive.
Video from near the loading dock showed police officers bagging up a bloody blanket and other items on the ground.
Police gathered surveillance footage to help identify the woman, who is potentially in need of medical care after losing blood and enduring the trauma of childbirth.
Safe Surrender Baby Law
People face different circumstances. They may not feel they are able to raise a child or do not know what resources are available to help them.
Safely Surrendered Baby Law protects babies from being abandoned in unsafe locations by encouraging people to surrender an infant within 72 hours of birth, no questions asked and without prosecution.
Babies must be brought to a designated safe surrender site, such as hospitals or certain fire stations. A parent or someone with lawful custody can reclaim the baby within 14 days from the time of surrender.
