Oxnard Woman Finds Abandoned Baby in Ivy Patch

A newborn girl was found early Wednesday in a patch of ivy in front of an Oxnard apartment building.

The abandoned infant, nicknamed “Baby Ivy” by nurses where she was hospitalized, was about 6 1/2 pounds and 18 1/2 inches long. She was discovered at 4:30 a.m. by a woman who lives in the building in the 5300 block of South J Street, police Sgt. Frank Devorick said.

The woman told police that she heard crying from her second-floor apartment, went outside and found the baby, wrapped in newspaper, lying a few feet from the building.

The woman wrapped the baby in a blanket and called police.

“I don’t think there was any attempt to hide the baby at all,” Detective Ed Neitzel said. He said the mother evidently wanted someone to find the girl, who was born the night before.

The baby was taken to St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard and is in good health, Devorick said.

The Ventura County Public Social Services Agency, which oversees about 650 children who are dependents of the court, will take custody of Baby Ivy and place her in a foster home when she is released from the hospital, said Lynne Coyle, a county social worker.

If the baby’s parents are not found within six months, a Superior Court judge will decide whether to legally terminate parental rights so that the baby may be adopted.

Coyle said such abandonment is extremely rare in Ventura County. This is believed to be the first since two baby girls were found in the restroom of an Oxnard park on Dec. 14, she said.

Coyle said most parents who abandon children are in dire financial straits, are having an emotional crisis or are extremely young and frightened by the idea of having a baby.

“Most people are desperate,” Coyle said. “They do it without thinking what the implications are.”