'You're not in trouble': Police urge mother to come forward after placenta found in Southampton park

The discovery was made on Wednesday morning (21 June) in the Holly Brook Park area. Credit: ITV News Meridian

Police have said a mother who's placenta was found in a Southampton park is "not in trouble" and they want her to come forward for support.

The discovery was made on Wednesday morning (21 June) in the Holly Brook Park area.

Marcus Kennedy, deputy district commander for Southampton, said: "On the 21st of June two members of the public located what they believed to be some element of human remains or just remains.

"Officers were deployed to that, seized the item and following medical advice the suspicion is it may be human placenta."

The find has been taken further testing and police say they will know in the next 24 hours if it is categorically a placenta.

Appeal to find woman who's given birth after human placenta found in park

Mr Kennedy added: "Clearly, the priority here is the welfare of that mother and the potential child so that's our immediate concern at this time.

"No-one's in trouble, we really want to locate the mother and that child as a matter of urgency to make sure that we can check on their welfare and give them the support that they urgently need."

  • Police are urging the mother to come forward for support

Appealing directly to the mother, he said: "Our message to the mother is you're not in trouble. It's all about looking after your welfare and the child.

"So if you're scared and you don't know what to do and you need support then you can ring 111 for the medical NHS helpline and if you're comfortable to come to us as well you can ring 101 and tell us you need our help. This is genuinely a real plea to provide that support and help to that individual."

The force is also appealing to members of the public to help with their enquiries.

Mr Kennedy said: "There may be somebody you know in your family, or a friend or in your community you know that was recently showing signs of pregnancy and you were concerned about them then and maybe you're concerned about them now because you've seen them since and they look like they need support or help.

"This is genuinely again not about trying to get anybody into trouble this is a real plea.

"Come forward, ring us on 101 it can be anonymous it's not a problem at all. And then we can get that help to that individual and potentially that child they desperately need."