An American woman was being held in police custody in Paris on Monday following the death of a newborn baby, who was thrown from the window of a hotel in the 20th arrondissement, authorities said.
In a statement shared with NBC News, the Paris prosecutor’s office said the newborn was believed to have been thrown from a window on the second floor of the hotel sometime during the morning.
It added that the newborn was given emergency medical care but did not survive.
The Child Protection Brigade was assigned to investigate the case as a homicide of a minor under the age of 15.
The mother, who was identified only as a U.S. national, was part of a group of young adults traveling in Europe, the prosecutor’s office said, adding that the incident was being looked into as a possible “case of pregnancy denial.”
Pregnancy denial can be described as a case of a mother either not being aware of or not being able to accept her pregnancy.
The mother was taken to a hospital, where she was undergoing a medical procedure following childbirth, the prosecutor’s office said. It said she was also being held under police custody at the facility.