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'Deep Regret' Of Toilet Pipe Baby's Mother

'Deep Regret' Of Toilet Pipe Baby's Mother

The desperate mother of a newborn baby who became trapped in a sewer pipe "deeply regrets" what she did, local police have said.

The 22-year-old, who had kept her pregnancy secret, raised the alarm after she unexpectedly gave birth in the squat toilet of the apartment block where she lives in Jinhua, eastern China.

The baby was saved after firefighters cut out a section of the pipe and took it to a local hospital where the infant was carefully cut out. The whole operation was captured on video.

The boy - named Baby No. 59 because of his incubator number in hospital - suffered minor injuries, but is said to be healthy.

The mother was present for the entire two-hour rescue, but did not admit giving birth until confronted by police later, according to reports.

Jinhua police said on the social networking website Weibo that the case was still under investigation, although other reports suggest the unnamed mother will not be prosecuted.

An officer, whose interview with a local TV channel was posted on the police Weibo site, said: "She deeply regrets what she did."

The officer said the mother told officers she rushed to the toilet after she began to feel stomach pains and subsequently gave birth to the baby.

"She tried to grab something to help herself because there is too much blood," the police officer said.

"She couldn't hold the baby anymore, and he slides into the sewage through the hole of the toilet."

During questioning, the mother said she never intended that the baby would end up in the toilet.

She said after she was unable to retrieve the baby, she decided to flush the toilet to clear away the blood, according to the officer, whose name and title was not provided in the interview.

She then called the landlord, saying she had heard a strange sound that seemed like a baby and suggested that the landlord and others come to check, the police officer said.

The baby suffered some cuts to his face and limbs and was put in an incubator at the Pujiang People's Hospital.

The head of the hospital, Wu Xinhong, said the infant was healthy and ready to be released.

"His condition is good, but his relatives have not come to pick him up yet," he said.

Police have said the mother, who is unmarried, was in a serious condition due to complications from the delivery, while authorities were still looking for the baby's father.