SPRINGFIELD, MASS. (WHDH) - A baby is recovering this week after police said he was abandoned at a home in Springfield in recent days.
Police said the newborn was found wrapped in blankets in a car seat at a home on Entrybrook Drive.
Speaking with 7NEWS, Juliannys Aviles said she found the baby when she came home from a weekend away with her family on Sunday night and noticed something strange at her front door.
Aviles said she heard a soft cry and saw the newborn boy wrapped up along with diapers, pacifiers, baby formula and a note when she looked inside the car seat.
“It said ‘Please take good care of me. My mom loves me but she can’t take care of me right now,’” Aviles said of the note.
Avilis said she immediately brought the newborn out of the cold, and called 911.
Police later determined the boy was likely outside for nearly two days based on surveillance video from a neighbor.
Aviles said the boy’s feet were cracked, swollen and red.
“It’s not something, as a mother, I wanted to see,” she said. “It’s not okay.”
Aviles said she has no idea who the boy’s mother is, or why she chose her.
Springfield police have asked the same questions, writing in a statement on Monday that they are hoping to connect with the child’s mother. Police added that the mother “herself may be in need of medical attention.”
The baby in this situation was hospitalized for hypothermia. Once he’s released, the Aviles family is hoping to foster him.
Though they said a case worker already has another foster home lined up, they said they’re hoping to change the case worker’s mind.
“We saved this baby’s life and he was meant to be with us,” Aviles said.
Massachusetts has a baby safe haven law that allows individuals to legally surrender a newborn seven days old or younger at a police station, fire station or hospital without facing any questions or criminal prosecution.
In Springfield, a local nonprofit has been donating yellow baby safe haven placard explaining the safe haven law to hang at area fire stations after this incident.
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