Scavenger saves newborn baby after parents throw son in rubbish bin

A man found a newborn baby while digging for valuable goods in a bin near a hospital in China. Photo / QQ.com

A rubbish collector in China has saved a newborn baby after finding the tiny boy abandoned in a public bin.

He brought the baby to a hospital near the bin for a check-up and doctors managed to find his parents.

According to the boy's mother and father, they decided to throw away the baby because he had been born prematurely and they thought he would not grow up healthily. The parents have expressed their regret.

According to a report on qq.com, the scavenger made the discovery on June 23 while searching for valuable goods from a rubbish bin outside the Fuling Centre Hospital in Chongqing.

The man, whose name has not been revealed, took out a newborn baby boy from the bin at around 10am, the Daily Mail reported.

Onlookers and hospital staff suggested the man bring the baby to the hospital for health inspection.

Upon a check-up, doctors said the infant had been born prematurely. They said the baby, weighing only 1.5kg (3.3 lbs), had been born at around 30 weeks.

His body was about a size of an adult's arm.

The inspection showed the baby was healthy.

The doctors also found records of a baby recently born at the hospital which fits the features of the abandoned boy.

They immediately alerted the police, and the police contacted the parents of the boy on the record.

According to a report on Sohu.com, the police confirmed that the couple were indeed the boy's parents and the mother was still hospitalised.

The police said that her husband carried the baby out from the hospital and placed him in the rubbish bin.

The couple told a reporter from Sohu: "We were afraid he [the baby] wouldn't live long because he was born prematurely.

"We didn't think carefully before throwing him in the rubbish bin."

The couple expressed their regret to the police. They promised to take care of the baby from now on.

The police did not file charges against the couple, but they gave them a verbal warning.

According to NHS, one out of every 13 babies could be born prematurely. This means they are born at or before 37 weeks.

Babies born before 34 weeks may need extra help with breathing, feeding and keeping warm, therefore they will be sent in for special care.