Police issued a plea Sunday for a mother to turn herself in after a baby girl, no more than an hour old, was found wrapped in a towel on the back step of a Saskatchewan home in –29 C temperatures.

Police said they are concerned about the mother's health and want to know what led to the baby being abandoned at the northwest Saskatoon home Saturday morning.

The baby was left outside this house on Wathaman Crescent in Saskatoon.
(CBC)

"We're waiting for the mom to come forward," said Acting Staff Sgt. Lyle Schmidt, a spokesperson for the Saskatoon police.

"Hopefully she'll turn herself in. She may not be well," Schmidt added.

Ed Anderson said his dog began growling at his back door around 10 a.m. Saturday, but it was only as he left 10 minutes later to warm up his car that he found the tiny Caucasian baby, wrapped in a towel and comforter, on his back step.

Anderson and his wife, a registered nurse, took the child inside, cleaned her up and called emergency services. The little girl is described as a healthy, full-term baby. She was taken to hospital, where she is doing fine, and is now under the care of social services.

At a police news conference Sunday, police pleaded for the mother to come forward, saying charges will not necessarily be laid. 

Mother likely 'very young': police

"We have to take into consideration that we have, chances are, a very young mother here, a very scared new mom here who is probably confused and doesn't know what to do," said Alyson Edwards, a police spokeswoman.

While Edwards said while criminal charges were possible, it depended on the circumstances of the child's abandonment.

For now, they're more concerned about the mother's health.

"This girl, this woman, probably needs to seek medical attention, and that would be another concern of ours," Edwards said.

"We want to assure her that we aren't going to throw the handcuffs on her and throw her in jail. What we want to do is work with her to find out what happened," Edwards said.

Edwards said in an earlier interview that police had no plans to show the media the towel and comforter that belonged to the baby, in an effort to generate tips from the public.

Police went door-to-door Saturday and Sunday to find out if anyone knew of a young mother who had recently given birth or who may have been pregnant.

"Maybe this girl had a friend who was aware of her pregnancy and is thinking that they're helping her by staying quiet," Edwards said. "We would encourage anyone with any information to come forward, because what we want to do is look after not only this baby, but the health and welfare of this mother," she said.

A search dog was brought in Saturday, but the effort yielded no clues as to where the baby may have come from.

A retired construction contractor, Anderson, 58, still can't quite get over the shock of the moment when he heard a tiny cry from the bundle, folded back the corner of the comforter, and realized he was holding a newborn baby.

"You're thinking, 'Oh my God, it's a newborn here! She's obviously in a bit of distress, so you just rush, bring it in and give it to someone who knows what they're doing'", he said in an interview from his home Sunday.

Anderson said he immediately handed the infant to his wife, a registered nurse for 25 years, and called 911.

"Emergency teams were at my house probably within 10 minutes, and as a result, the baby is in great shape at the hospital."

Anderson said he first had to convince the 911 centre that his call was legitimate. He said he must have sounded a little incoherent, because in the excitement, he simply blurted out that he had a baby at his house and she was crying.

With files from the Canadian Press