Newborn found still attached to unconscious mum by umbilical cord in sad discovery

A newborn baby was saved by a woman after being found still attached to the umbilical cord of an unconscious mother.
-Credit: (Image: Getty Images/EyeEm)


A kind-hearted dog walker made a shocking discovery when she came across a woman lying on the ground with her newborn baby still attached by the umbilical cord.

The 42-year-old new mum, Chanel Mueller, had given birth to her baby in a hotel room, as revealed by the infant's father, John Bratsch, 35. He explained while he was tidying up the room, Mueller stepped outside with the baby still connected via the umbilical cord and then fainted.

Emergency services rushed to the scene at the Westspring Inn in Westlake, Ohio, on Tuesday around 6pm after a woman who had been out walking her dogs. Bratsch informed the authorities the baby was born "very suddenly" in the hotel room, reports the Mirror US.

The dog walker stumbled across Mueller unconscious in the grass outside the hotel, but initially, she wasn't entirely sure what she was seeing. She reported to the officers at the scene "the baby's face was down in the grass and its butt was up like this and the baby was crying, and she was out like a light".

The witness revealed she was "screaming" at Mueller but "she did not budge", so she took it upon herself to ensure the infant was safe. Remarkably, she found scissors in her handbag and severed the umbilical cord while waiting for assistance to arrive,

She made sure the baby was breathing correctly and swaddled him in towels. "Someone unconscious on the ground is concerning to anybody. When they're still connected to a baby via an umbilical cord, it adds that much more alarm to it, so she did the right thing. She made sure the baby was OK," Westlake Police Department Captain Jerry Vogel explained. Mueller and Bratsch were rushed to St. John Westshore Medical Center by emergency services.

Officers immediately contacted Cuyahoga County Family and Children's Services investigators. "They do admit to being drug users, dependent drug users, so I don't know what they were thinking, not seeking medical help," Captain Vogel remarked.

"They claim the baby came really quick, maybe that happened, I don't know, but once you have the first inkling that the baby is coming, dial 911, get help there."

Emergency services are hoping the child will be placed in a secure environment and that this harrowing ordeal will serve as a stark wake-up call for Bratsch and Mueller, encouraging them to get assistance for their alleged drug addiction. The pair are now facing serious legal consequences, including charges of child endangerment

"They put the child in a life-or-death situation by not trying to seek medical attention," Captain Vogel stated. "Obviously, they weren't in any kind of state to take care of this baby at that point because neither one of them did."

Join the Daily Record's WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.