Fears for new mother after baby girl found abandoned in park

A newborn baby was found abandoned in a shopping bag in an east London park as temperatures approached freezing.

The girl, who has been named Roman by nurses, was found late on Thursday by a woman walking her dog with her children after she heard the infant crying.

The Metropolitan Police said Roman was wrapped in a white towel which was put in the shopping bag and then placed on the ground next to a bench in the small children’s play park. No attempt had been made to hide her, they added.

The woman called emergency services as soon as she found the baby at around 10.15pm in the park in Roman Road, near the junction with Saxon Road, in East Ham in the borough of Newham.

Police said they are growing “increasingly concerned” for her mother’s welfare as they believe she may be in need of urgent medical attention.

Roman was in a stable condition on Friday morning after being taken to an east London hospital. A photo issued by police showed she had been hooked up to an intravenous drip and monitoring equipment.

Appealing directly to her mother, Inspector Shane Clarke, of the North East Command Unit, said: “I urge you to make contact either with police, your local hospital or GP surgery. It is really important that we know that you are safe.

“I would also urge anyone who has information that could help us to reunite this baby with her mother to come forward.”

Anyone with information as to the whereabouts of the mother is asked to call police on 101 quoting reference CAD7825/31JAN or tweet @MetCC.