A young mother accused of abandoning her unconscious newborn baby in the driveway of a home has been charged by detectives with child abuse.
The boy was discovered in a critical condition on the doorstep of a home in Dandenong North, south-east of Melbourne, at 2.40am on Friday.
Her 25-year-old mother has been charged with recklessly endangering life and causing injury by Dandenong Child Abuse and Sexual Offences detectives.
She was released on bail and is due to appear in Dandenong Magistrates Court on December 5.
The baby remains in hospital, but his condition is said to have improved.
This comes after the young mother’s shocked housemates revealed on Friday that they had no idea she was pregnant.
“We didn’t know she was pregnant because we’ve only known her for three weeks and we work back-to-back shifts so we can’t see each other,” one said.
‘We just woke up and there was an incident and we had to call triple zero, and they came and helped us.
A young mother accused of abandoning her unconscious newborn baby in the driveway of a home has been charged by detectives with child abuse (pictured, forensic staff at the home)
The baby was discovered in a critical condition on the driveway of a home in Dandenong North, south-east Melbourne, at 2.40am on Friday (pictured: police outside the home).
‘We are happy that the baby is doing well and we continue to pray for her and the baby.
“We are ready to support her when she leaves the hospital.”
The housemate added that the mother was a “lovely woman” who worked at a care home for the elderly.
A single-story home that appeared to have been recently sold was surrounded by police tape Friday when officers visited the scene.