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Middlemore Hospital - Source: ONE News
A woman who kidnapped a newborn baby from Middlemore Hospital has avoided a jail sentence.
Neha Narayan, 25, pleaded guilty last month to kidnapping the day-old infant and this morning in the High Court at Auckland was sentenced to 200 hours of community work and two years of intensive supervision.
This includes a range of psychological and psychiatric treatments.
Narayan faked a pregnancy for nine months before telling her partner she was overdue and asked to be taken to hospital on January 4.
She was originally charged with abduction after she took a baby from the maternity ward and carried it to a waiting car in the hospital car park but the charge was later upgraded to kidnapping.
She was stopped when the girl's parents saw her and alerted hospital staff.
Her lawyer at the time, Heeni Phillips, said Narayan had not planned to abduct the child but had carried it to the car park so she could speak with her partner.
Phillips said in January that Narayan was an unemployed woman who was suffering as a result of a traumatic experience and that healthcare would be sought for her.