Woman Gives Birth On Portland Sidewalk, Walks Away From Baby Girl

Police rushed to downtown Portland after getting word that a newborn baby was left behind on the sidewalk, according to KATU.

On Wednesday around 10:45 a.m., Portland Fire and paramedics got reports of a baby being born near Southwest 13th Avenue and Market Street. Authorities learned the mother walked away from the child after giving birth and responded to the scene, as well.

"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,” Officer Nathan Kirby-Glatkowski, who works with the PPB Neighborhood Response Team, told KOIN. "They said the mother, the woman, was stumbling away eastbound on Market with a lot of blood and amniotic fluid all over her."

First responders evaluated the baby's health while the mother refused help from medical personnel. Both were taken to the hospital, according to reporters. The newborn "appeared in good health," KATU reports, and the mother is undergoing a mental health evaluation.

"Unfortunately, we encountered somebody that was experiencing some pretty serious mental health crisis," Kirby-Glatkowski says. "We were able to get her stopped and get her into an ambulance and onto a hospital for a physical and also address other issues."

Portland Police also thanked the community members who witnessed the incident, covered up the baby, and called 911 for help.