Police now believe baby may have survived for as long as five days after being pushed into the drain in western Sydney
A woman has been charged with attempted murder following the discovery of a newborn baby boy in a drain in Sydney’s west.
Police confirmed to Guardian Australia the woman was the baby’s mother.
The 30-year-old woman was refused bail and was due to appear in Blacktown local court on Monday.
Despite earlier estimates that the boy was two to three days old, police will now allege that he is seven days old and was placed into the drain in Quakers Hill on Tuesday, 24 hours after being born.
That would mean he had survived in the drain for five days before being found by a passing cyclist on Sunday morning.
The baby is in a serious but stable condition at the Westmead children’s hospital.
Police suspect the baby was squeezed through the drain’s narrow opening and dropped about 2.4 metres.
After he was found on Sunday, several people lifted the heavy slab covering the drain to get him out.
The baby is now in the care of the NSW Family and Community Services (FACS) minister.
It will be up to the state agency to assess what now happens to him.