A desperate 18 year-old who left her newborn baby in the manger of a crèche in a church in Queens, New York last week said she deliberately chose the church, knowing that if she left the baby there he would be okay.

The unnamed woman who recently moved to New York from Mexico, spoke to New York Post reporter Lorena Mongelli about why she left her newborn son in the crèche at Holy Child Jesus Church in Queens on November 23.

“I had just arrived to New York five months ago from Mexico, and nobody knew I was pregnant. I didn’t even tell the baby’s father in Mexico because I knew I was leaving,” she told Mongelli.

“I gained only 10 pounds, so nobody ever noticed. I never got any medical checkups, only once in Mexico, where doctors confirmed I was pregnant and estimated the baby would be born sometime in December.”

The doctor was only off by a matter of days and on November 23, she went into labor while alone in the house. Extremely frightened, she suffered for two hours before the boy was born.

“I picked him up and carried him out the door with the cord still dangling. I didn’t have any baby clothes for him, but I needed to take him someplace safe,” she said.

“I’m very religious, and I thought about the Holy Child Jesus Church. I’ve been there before, and the people there are good. I knew if I left him in God’s hands, he would be OK.”

It was cold outside at the time and while she was walking to the church, she noticed the baby’s lips were turning blue.

“I thought, I don’t want him to die, he must be cold. I ran into the first store I saw and purchased a towel to wrap him in,” she said.

A few minutes later, she rushed him into the church and placed him in the manger where she knew someone would find him.

“I just prayed he was warm enough. I knew the priest would find him, and somebody would help him.”

She was right. The child was found a short time later and was rushed to Jamaica Hospital where the 5 lb., 2 oz. baby is said to be doing well.

What she wasn’t prepared for were the national headlines made by the story and the intense police hunt that followed.

Under the state’s Safe Haven law, a church is considered a safe haven for leaving an infant within 72 hours of birth but a responsible person must be with the child at the time of the drop off.

This young mother didn’t follow the rules, but police have opted not to press charges.

Especially not after she returned to the scene a day later to check on her little boy.

“The people at church recognized me and told me he was OK,” she told Mongelli. “I’m glad the baby is healthy and was released from the hospital this week, but I haven’t seen him.”

At present, she is conflicted about what to do with the child. “I know it will be hard to see him right now because I’m still thinking about whether I am going to keep him. I haven’t decided yet, but it’s a possibility. I would love to be a mom one day, but right now, I don’t feel I’m ready. I don’t know when the right time would be, but I do need a stable job first.”

The custodian who found the child in the manger said people are already offering to adopt him.

“There are families within the parish who have inquired as to adopting the baby already,” he explained. “They feel that he was left in the parish and should stay in the parish.”

But everyone is wishing mother and child the very best.

“I feel so sad that the child’s mother felt she had to abandon him, but it’s a blessing that she brought him here,” said parishioner Karina Lara, 28. “This is a beautiful church with beautiful people and his life will be blessed from this point on.”

© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace®  http://www.womenofgrace.com