A woman who gave birth aboard a flight without anyone noticing was charged by New Zealand police today with abandoning her daughter after the newborn was found in a toilet bin.
The unnamed 29-year-old Samoan mother walked off a Pacific Blue flight from Samoa to Auckland last Thursday after apparently giving birth during the flight.
Soon afterward, cleaners found the newborn child lying amid paper towels in a toilet bin.
The case made headlines in New Zealand and Samoa and prompted officials to defend check-in procedures and public health warnings that heavily pregnant women should not fly.
Police Det Insp Mark Gutry said the woman was charged with child abandonment - which carries a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment - and child assault.
The mother could also face a fine of up to 100,000 New Zealand dollars and another seven years in prison for allegedly failing to reveal information about her pregnancy, a violation of the country’s Immigration Act.
The mother was reported to be returning to New Zealand to work as a kiwi fruit picker when her daughter was born.
She underwent surgery at an Auckland hospital last Thursday after the unaided birth and was later reunited with her baby. State welfare authorities and other agencies were working to determine what long-term arrangements would be best for the baby, said state welfare official Marion Heeney.
AP