The baby boy is discovered by cyclists five days after allegedly being dumped by his mother within 24 hours of the birth.
A mother has been charged with attempted murder after her newborn baby was allegedly left in a drain for five days.
The boy was discovered 2.5 metres down the drain in Sydney after cyclists passing by heard crying.
After pulling away the concrete drain cover they found the baby lying at the bottom wrapped in a hospital blanket.
The child's Australian mother, aged 30, was identified following hospital record checks and house-to-house enquiries in the Sydney suburb of Quakers Hill.
Police said in a statement: "A woman has been charged with attempted murder after a newborn baby was found in a drain in Sydney's west on Sunday.
"Police will allege the baby, believed to have been born on Monday, was placed into the drain on Tuesday 18 November."
The alarm was raised by a group of cyclists riding along the bike track beside the M7 highway. They heard cries from the drain at around 7.30am on Sunday.
Inspector David Lagats said the boy had no signs of physical injury but was malnourished and remains in a serious but stable condition in hospital.
He added: "It would appear the striped blanket is similar to what is wrapped on babies in hospitals.
"I can also say the umbilical cord had been cut and had been clamped so it appears to have some sort of medical intervention since its birth.
"It was already undernourished, and dehydration would have taken affect so we would have had grave fears for the child's welfare had it been exposed to this weather for the rest of the day."
Police suspect the baby was squeezed through the drain's narrow opening and dropped.
Sydney has been sweltering in temperatures above 30C and it is thought the baby would not have survived much longer if he had not been found.
David Otte, one of the passers-by, told Fairfax Media: "We actually thought it was some kitten or something like that. It was only when we went down there and had a real good look at it that we could hear exactly what it was.
"That baby wouldn't have lasted an hour and a half. That baby had no chance if we and the other people hadn't been there. Something made us find that baby today."
The boy is now in the care of the New South Wales Family and Community Services.
By Jonathan Samuels
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