Phuket mother returns to nurse abandoned newborn

PHUKET: The mother who abandoned her newborn girl, delivered into the world at Thalang Hospital last Friday, has returned to the hospital to nurse her child.

However, she has yet to decide whether she will keep the baby.

“The mother’s still sick – very tired,’ said Phuket Provincial Health Office Deputy Director Wiwat Seetamonotch this afternoon.

“She has had no rest; she went straight back to work after delivering the baby… She has not yet agreed to take the child back, but she has returned to the hospital to nurse the baby for now,” he added.

The mother, 32, returned to the hospital after staff had located her through reports from the public saying they had seen the woman in the Thalang area. Those reports followed Dr Wiwat making a public appeal to help find the mother after she walked out of the hospital only hours after giving birth.

Phuket Vice Governor Sommai Prijasilpa explained that the mother, originally from Chiang Rai, lives in Phuket. “She has been working for a villa project company for about five months. She has grave financial problems.

“She shares a room with her friend and she has two other children. One is with her family in Chiang Rai and the other is with her former husband, who still lives in Phuket,” said V/Gov Sommai.

Jiranun Jeamcharoen, director of the Phuket Shelter for Children and Families, said that if the mother and father of the newborn, who had yet to be given a name, refused to take care of the child, then the shelter would do so.

Dr Wiwat said he has urged the mother to at least register the child’s birth.

“That way we can at least guarantee the child will have Thai citizenship. Then we can guarantee the baby will be entitled to all rights as a Thai national. Also, it is only way we can offer the child foster parents later, if the mother chooses,” he said.

The administrators at Thalang Hospital have also launched a fund-raising drive to help provide some financial assistance for the mother.

Donations can be made to:
Account name: Thalang Hospital Fund For Mother and Child
Bank: Islamic Bank of Thailand
Account number: 094-101-8652

— Kritsada Mueanhawong