KEY POINTS:
Police investigating the death of a Westport baby are interviewing Buller Hospital staff, family members and others, says inquiry head, Detective Inspector John Winter.
The premature baby girl died at Christchurch Hospital on Friday, a week after her mother took her to Buller Hospital in a plastic bucket.
The 34-year-old woman was apparently unaware she was pregnant until she delivered the baby. A police investigation began after a post mortem examination on Saturday.
Mr Winter said police had not been discussing any charges. "These inquiries that we're doing are at the request of the coroner and they flow on naturally from the results of the post mortem."
He declined to reveal the post mortem examination's findings, the baby's condition when she arrived at Buller Hospital, or why she was taken there in a bucket.
He said she was taken to the hospital immediately after her birth.
He was unable to say how long the inquiry would take. It involved a lot of paper work because the baby had been in three police districts, he said.
She was transferred from the West Coast to Wellington Hospital, then to Christchurch Hospital, then back to Wellington for the post mortem.
"We've got to get all the paperwork together and it's got to come across to our staff at Westport. That's happening today."
- NZPA
