Cooks River, Earlwood: Grim addition to search for mother who gave birth to a baby by a riverbank – as cops reveal area of interest

A blood-detection dog has joined the desperate search for a mother who gave birth to a baby by a riverbank as police reveal a new area of interest. 

Emergency services were called to the banks of the Cooks River in Earlwood, southwest Sydney, at about 4.30pm on Monday after a passerby walking a dog spotted a placenta and an umbilical cord.

Search teams, boats and divers returned to the river at first light on Tuesday after a large-scale search of the river and surrounding areas was conducted overnight.

Police divers are currently scouring the mangroves and the waters edge of the Cooks River as a blood-detection dog joins the search. 

‘We have located an area that we need to do further forensic examination and I will have more to say about that once we know what this is,’ Detective Chief Superintendent Christine McDonald told a press conference on Tuesday. 

She said childbirth could be a distressing and traumatic time. 

‘I am deeply concerned for the safety and the mental health of the mother and also for the safety of her baby,’ Superintendent McDonald said.

‘I ask that she comes forward to health services, to police, to anyone that can offer her a form of support during this very difficult time.

‘I need to know she is safe and she is receiving the support that she needs right now.’

Superintendent McDonald said there was a possibility that the new mother doesn’t want anyone to know about the birth. 

‘There is no judgement. They need to know that we are concerned for them, that we are wanting to know that they are safe,’ she said. 

‘As we know childbirth presents a number of health concerns, hence why we are requesting that that mother goes straight to hospital.’

More to come.