A SECOND CHANCE SYSTEM IN PLACE TO SAVE ABANDONED BABIES.

Byline: Eugene Tong Staff Writer

VALENCIA - Hospital social worker Marcella Taylor-Snel still remembers the infant boy - a 7-pound bundle who was left by his mother hours after his birth a year ago at a local fire station, and lived.

``He was a little cold, but he was at full term,'' said Taylor-Snel, who works at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital. ``He would eat, but he would fall asleep. Sometimes they're so used to being warm and comfortable in the uterus, it's like 'I'm OK, just leave me alone.'''

The baby boy, surrendered a year ago, was adopted within three days. He was the second and more recent infant received at the hospital since the Legislature in 2001 enacted a law allowing parents to leave newborns at emergency rooms and fire stations within 72 hours of birth without being subject to prosecution.

The adoptive mother ``was a single mom who was on the waiting list for four years,'' Taylor-Snel said. ``Her whole family was there. They're going to be able to care for him, and are there ready to love him.''

Despite the rough start, it was the ideal ending for hospital staffers caring for those experiencing life's first moments. But news Thursday of a former University of Southern California student accused of leaving her baby boy to die in a Dumpster left them in disbelief.

``There is no reason for a baby to die,'' said Michael Magnusen, a medical social worker at Newhall Memorial.

The newborn was found early Monday tucked in a box in an alley behind a popular hangout near the university. Holly Ashcraft, 21, of Montana, believed to be the boy's mother, is charged in Los Angeles Superior Court with one count each of murder and child abuse, and was held in lieu of $2 million bail.

``Obviously, we failed with this one,'' said Sally McGann, director of women's services at the hospital. She sat with her colleagues in a nursery surrounded by trays of knitted pastel baby caps, a rocking chair and a heated cradle - a sanctuary for mother and child.

Abandoned infants may arrive crying or softly still. Some are tethered to their birth parents by medical history - usually an anonymous form filled out at the hospital before parting.

But it's likely all of them are cold, and they're placed in a heated crib upon arrival.

``This is the first thing you do,'' said Vivian Rebel, the hospital's trauma services manager. ``(Newborns) don't keep their temperature.''

Babies most likely overcome the initial physical trauma in a few days - though some who develop complications may be held in the neonatal intensive care ward. They are then placed with the Los Angeles County Department of Child and Family Services, which oversees adoptions.

``You feel like you saved a life,'' Magnusen said.

``There are just so many that want a child, and can't have one,'' Rebel said.

But trauma may endure for their mothers, who are confronted with the choice due to poverty or fear of family and social stigma, Taylor-Snel said.

``Usually, it's a young woman who has hidden the pregnancy from friends and family, who is in denial about being pregnant,'' she said. ``I don't think it's an easy or a selfish choice. They're still going through the grief process years later. They might walk down the street and wonder, 'Is that my child?'''

Still, if a child ends up in a warm home that could not be offered by a birth parent, turning to the authorities may turn out for the best, Taylor-Snel said.

``Any mother, regardless their age, will tell you it takes a lot of thinking to get there - that I can't take care of this child,'' she said. ``They know they need help, and they hope somebody here will have the answer. That's certainly a much better choice than leaving it in a Dumpster.''

Eugene Tong, [phone]

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital's care coordinator Michael Magnusen, left, nurse Sally McGann, center, and nurse Sharon Mitchell work with the Safe Surrender Site program, in which parents can hand over unwanted newborns.

(2 -- color) Security Officer George Selth works at the emergency room entrance, which is designated as a place where unwanted newborns can be surrendered.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer