Southampton placenta mystery: Mum and baby identified

A path off Dale Road in Southampton was cordoned off by police after the discovery in June 2023

A mother and baby whose placenta was found on a path have been identified following an eight-month police investigation.

The placenta was found off Dale Road in Southampton, on 21 June.

There had been concerns about the wellbeing of the mother and baby, with police and health authorities making repeated appeals for information.

Police have now confirmed they are both safe and well and no criminal investigation will take place.

The placenta was discovered in woodland near the Spire and General hospitals by two members of the public, with tests later confirming it was human.

Hundreds of hours of CCTV footage were reviewed and house-to-house enquiries were carried out.

With police appeals, as well as midwives at Princess Anne Hospital, failing to identify the woman who gave birth, the case was described as a "significant mystery".

Two women were previously arrested and subsequently released facing no further action.

In September, police said officers were considering the possibility a criminal offence had been committed and believed they were investigating the unlawful concealment of the birth of a child.

Ch Insp Marcus Kennedy led the police investigation

At the end of last year, officers said they believed the mother to have had a west African background and began talks with the city's African community.

Ch Insp Marcus Kennedy said the force had a duty to investigate the unusual occurrence and he was "delighted" at the outcome of the investigation.

He said: "We have established that the family involved have done nothing wrong, and there is to be no criminal investigation now that they have been located.

"We had to consider the very real possibility that the mother and baby involved had potentially come to harm, and we needed to do everything we could to ensure that this wasn't the case."

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