A Mississauga mother of two who left her one-year-old baby Indika’s frozen placenta in a park calls the Peel police investigation into how it got there “a wild misunderstanding.”
Natasha Das Gupta told Global News on Wednesday that she had a home birth in Bradford in November 2017 and the midwife left the organ with her to do with as she pleased.
Now separated from the baby’s father, the 27-year-old said her in-law’s brought the placenta to the home in Mississauga where she now lives three weeks ago.
Das Gupta said she was keeping it in the garage and later in the kitchen freezer, but on Friday, she decided to take it to nearby Sugar Maple Woods Park, since the little girl had recently turned one.
She said she put it in an area where coyotes roam and thought a wild animal would consume the afterbirth.
“I knew I was going to go into the forest. So I had my mom watch (the baby). I went and grabbed everything and I went out,” Gupta said. “I knew there was a coyote about and I was honestly trying to look for it cause I wanted to put it near where the coyote was, hoping that the coyote was going to clean up what I was about to drop off and then it would be, no one would be the wiser.”
“It would just be taken care of by nature, from nature, back to nature.”
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Das Gupta said the forceps police described that were found by 24-year-old Ryan Forsythe around 4 p.m. Monday while he was out walking his dog, were actually clamps used to cut off the blood circulation between the baby and the umbilical cord. She said the clamps were frozen along with the placenta and she had no idea they were inside the frozen organ.
Das Gupta said she only learned that police had launched an investigation into the well-being of a mother and her baby after her mother saw media coverage.
“I googled it and I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ Instantly I was like afraid that I had done something wrong.”
Das Gupta who works as a life coach, said when she realized people were worried about a woman and her baby who were in danger, she called police.
“I was like ‘that’s just not the truth’ and so I called police.”
WATCH: Mississauga mother calls police investigation into baby’s placenta ‘wild misunderstanding’. Catherine McDonald reports.
READ MORE: Mother gives birth in front seat of car on major Ontario highway
She explained to officers that the placenta was a year old and that she had not given birth in the park. She went into the police station to give a statement.
“They treated me with so much respect when they got to the station. They didn’t treat me like a weirdo or all the things that I feared that was going to happen, none of that happened,” she said.
Police said no charges will be laid, despite the fact they invested roughly 24 hours and a lot of manpower towards the investigation.
Das Gupta said she never intended to cause a ruckus, calling her actions “very private and quiet.” She said she was mortified when she realized that police were involved.
She also feels moved that police and the community were worried about her and her child.
“I was honestly really moved. I’ve never had so many people worried about me. Combing forests for me. I was actually brought to tears.”
WATCH: Mother, baby in good health after evidence of childbirth found in Mississauga park