Rescued Chinese Newborn in Stable Condition

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Chinese Newborn Rescued from Toilet Pipe, in Stable Condition

China's state-run media reports that a newborn baby boy who was rescued from a sewage pipe in a Chinese apartment building is recovering and in stable condition.

A preliminary medical examination showed the baby was healthy apart from scratches on his head, arms and legs.

Chinese state-run news reported a 22-year-old woman who initially alerted authorities that the baby was trapped in the sewer has admitted to being the mother. The report said the unnamed woman said she could not afford an abortion and secretly delivered the child on Saturday afternoon in the toilet.

Authorities have come to call the child 'Baby 59' after the incubator number where he is recuperating.

There are frequent reports in Chinese media of babies being abandoned, often shortly after birth, a problem attributed to factors such as young mothers unaware they were pregnant, the birth of an unwanted girl in a society which puts greater value on boys, or China's strict family planning rules.

Chinese families traditionally have a preference for sons, but babies born out of wedlock are sometimes abandoned because of social and financial pressures.