Iowa: A 22-year old Iowa woman tried to flush her new born baby down the toilet as she thought it was dead, and put the child in a pillow case and left it in a trash can.
Ashley R. Hautzenrader has been arrested with child endangerment after the University of Iowa Police said that Hautzenrader entered a bathroom at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics just before 9:30 p.m. Sunday and gave birth to a baby in a hospital bathroom.
The baby was found alive by UIHC employees “shortly after delivery,” Hautzenrader said she did not know she was pregnant and also admitted that she left the child in the trash because she thought it was dead.
The complaint says she cleaned the bathroom and then left.
Hautzenrader was arrested and held in the Johnson County Jail until her release on Tuesday morning. She has been charged with child endangerment and faces up to two years in prison if convicted.
According to Save Heaven law parents in Lowa can leave their newborn up to 14 days old at a hospital or health care facility without any questions. About 20 children were declared as Save Heavens since the Lowa law was enacted in 2002.