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Woman charged after 'newborn found unresponsive and partially submerged in toilet'


A woman who gave birth to a boy in a bathroom at her work has been charged after police allegedly found the child “unresponsive and partially submerged” in a toilet.

Emmanuella Osei, 23, was arrested on Wednesday afternoon and has been charged with felony endangering the welfare of a child.

Ms Osei gave birth at an assisted-living facility in Warwick Township, in the US State of Pennsylvania, on Monday (local time).

Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office released a statement after the woman’s arrest and said she had been working on Monday night as a care assistant, when she allegedly asked her supervisor for relief a number of times as she was not feeling well.

Eventually she contacted the supervisor from the toilet and requested they call 911.

When police arrived they allegedly found Ms Osei in the bathroom with the door partly open.

The document from the District Attorney’s Office says there was a large amount of blood and what appeared to be an umbilical cord.

Ms Osei was pulled from the toilet by Corporal Ochs who then performed CPR on the child.

Emmanuella Osei has been charged after giving birth to a child who was allegedly found partially submerged and unresponsive in a toilet. Source: Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office
Emmanuella Osei has been charged after giving birth to a child who was allegedly found partially submerged and unresponsive in a toilet. Source: Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office

It is alleged that Ms Osei did not make an attempt to help the child, or touch him, but instead left him in the toilet. He was believed to have been in the water for about 10 to 15 minutes.

First responders reported that child had been unresponsive, blue and cold to touch, the statement read, and that he started breathing after CPR was performed.

“The quick thinking and actions of Corporal Ochs almost certainly saved this child’s life,” District Attorney Stedman said.

Ms Osei and the baby were taken to hospital.

The boy is said to be in a stable but critical condition, and remains on a ventilator.

The Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office said the mother was aware she was pregnant, even though she had denied it when asked by her uncle, co-workers and friends.

According to the statement, Ms Osei had also never told her supervisor that she was pregnant during the evening or any other time prior to this.

It is reported that the 23-year-old woman already has a two-year-old daughter who is living with her mother in Ghana.