Update: mother of baby freed from sewer pipe in China speaks out

The mother of the Chinese newborn rescued from a sewer pipe has said she kept her pregnancy secret after the father refused to stand by her and she could not afford an abortion.

The ordeal of Baby 59 – known only by the number of his hospital incubator – made headlines around the world after extraordinary footage was shown of firefighters and medics freeing him from the narrow pipe. Police in Jinhua, Zhejiang province, initially thought the baby had been abandoned and said they were treating the case as one of attempted homicide.

But they subsequently realised that the resident who had raised the alarm, and who remained present throughout the two-hour rescue on Saturday, was his mother. Local media said she told police she wanted to raise the child but had no idea how to do it.

The 22-year-old said she went to the shared bathroom when she felt abdominal cramps, state media reported. When the baby slipped into the sewer pipe she was unable to free him.

Shanghai Daily said police identified the woman as the likely mother on Monday and were still determining whether her story was true or she had intentionally dumped him. She reportedly confessed after they found blood-stained tissues and toys in her room and asked her to undergo a medical check.

Police in Pujiang declined to comment on whether the mother would face charges, saying the case was under investigation. But an employee at Punan police station, which previously handled the case, told the Guardian it was "an accident".

Images of the baby's rescue sparked horror and sympathy across China, with wellwishers deluging the hospital where he was treated with gifts and offers of adoption. He had suffered some scratches and bruises but is understood to be otherwise healthy.

According to Jinhua-based Zhezhong News, the woman works at a restaurant in the city and became pregnant after a one-night stand. But the man denied any responsibility and she could not afford an abortion.

She had not revealed her pregnancy to her parents, hiding it by wearing loose clothes and wrapping cloth tightly around her abdomen.

One microblog user said the woman did not deserve to be a mother and should not be allowed to keep the baby because she would not be a responsible parent. But as fresh details emerged, the initial wave of anger towards the baby's parents was tempered by sympathy for the mother.

One Sina Weibo user wrote: "I am the father of two children. I know a little about how much children need their parents, and I think this mother needs help too."

Another said that rather than blaming the mother or expressing sympathy for the little boy, people should seek to help other children, urging: "We should think about how to build a charity home for abandoned babies and give them assistance with their lives and psychologically."

Premarital sex is now widespread in China but experts say that many young adults lack the knowledge they need to protect themselves.

The sociologist Li Yinhe said more than 70% of China's young adults had had sex before marriage, but Chinese schools typically shied away from sex education and teaching about contraception for fear of appearing to condone premarital sex.