‘Baby Noel’ on Ventilator but Expected to Recover

Abandoned newborn “Baby Noel,” whose muffled cries helped a passer-by to find her inside a trash bin in East San Diego, is connected to a breathing apparatus for her weakened lungs but is expected to recover, a hospital spokesman said Monday.

“She is currently on a ventilator unit and is still in serious but stable condition,” said Dr. Richard W. Henderson, director of the neonatal intensive care unit at Sharp Memorial Hospital.

“Right now, I would say I’m guardedly optimistic about her progress.”

On Sunday morning, Dinh Zan Nguyen, looking for aluminum cans in trash bins near 50th Street and El Cajon Boulevard, heard cries coming from inside a closed plastic trash bag and uncovered a 2- to 12-hours-old baby.

The umbilical cord and placenta were still attached to the 7-pound, 3-ounce girl when Nguyen and a friend wrapped the infant in a blanket and phoned police.

She was taken to Sharp Memorial and was immediately placed on the ventilator, which is primarily used for children suffering from “respiratory stress syndrome.” The syndrome affects breathing and was possibly caused by baby’s exposure to the cold, which may have damaged blood vessels in the lung, Henderson said.

Henderson also said the medical staff is trying to determine if the baby has traces of drugs in her blood, or if she suffers from seizures. But he is confident that the infant’s condition will improve.

“I expect the baby to be off the ventilator in a day or two,” the doctor said.

Carol Baenziger, spokeswoman for the county’s Child Protective Services, said there are no immediate plans to find a permanent home for the baby until there has been an attempt to find the mother.

Although there have been numerous calls from well-wishers and volunteers to adopt the abandoned child, a search to find the mother is the first priority.

“We want to bring the mother forward, and we are making every attempt to locate her and learn from her why this happened,” Baenziger said. “We don’t want to scare her away. We want to help her and find out why this happened.”

When the baby is released from the hospital, she will probably be given to a family who is trained to care for a child with special needs, Baenziger said. “Medically fragile foster home families” have the training and experience to care for someone like Baby Noel, she added.

Police are searching door-to-door for information that might lead to the discovery of the baby’s mother. They are also looking for anyone who might have any information.

Sgt. Dorothy Powell of the San Diego police child abuse unit said it is uncommon to find abandoned babies, and that she can only recall one or two such cases in the last two years.

“In this case someone just happened to find one in the Dumpster. But how many babies have there been that weren’t as lucky?” Powell said. “Who knows how many haven’t been discovered? It’s an ugly thought.”