An hours-old baby girl in Atlanta was found abandoned on a stranger’s front porch, police said.
The newborn was found crying and wrapped in a white blanket outside a home at around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to authorities.
The baby was taken to the hospital and was said to be “in good health and had no signs of injury,” police spokesman Anthony Grant said.
Freida Burston told NBC affiliate WXIA in Atlanta that she usually sleeps through the night but that morning she woke up to get a glass of water when she heard a baby crying.
“God woke me up and said, ‘Go up front,'” she told the outlet. “So that’s how I went up front and saw the baby crying.”
Burston said the umbilical cord was still attached, and a first responder cut it on her living room couch before taking the baby away.
Police body camera video released by authorities showed an officer speaking with two emergency medical technicians as the baby cried in the background. One of the first responders told the officer the baby girl appeared to be only five hours old.
Authorities declined to release information on the baby’s mother. Burston told WXIA that she would take the baby if the parents are not found.
Police said Georgia’s Department of Family and Child Services were notified of the incident. The agency did not immediately return a request for comment.
Under the state’s Safe Haven law, mothers will not face criminal charges if they leave their baby with a worker at a police station, fire department, or hospital within 30 days of the birth. The mother can also remain anonymous.