Gardaí have asked the mother of an infant, whose remains were found in a disused shed on a Co Meath farm this week, to contact them.
A local man, who had been working on a building site, discovered the baby's body on Tuesday afternoon, one mile from Kildalkey village. He had stopped inside the shed to take shelter from the rain.
Supt Ken Brennan of Trim Garda station said there was concern for the welfare of the mother and that health services were available to provide whatever support was needed.
"We would like the mother to make contact with us and assure her we will deal with the matter as sympathetically as possible," said Supt Brennan.
"We are very concerned for the mother's safety and health," he added.
Gardaí have also asked anyone in a position to help with their inquiries to contact Trim Garda station.
Supt Brennan said gardaí were still at a preliminary stage of their investigations and carrying out house-to-house inquiries.
A postmortem examination on the infant was taking place yesterday evening at Our Lady's Hospital in Navan by the deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis.
The postmortem results are expected to indicate how long the infant's remains were in the shed and confirm whether or not it was a full-term pregnancy.
The body, which had been wrapped in blankets, had been in a state of decomposition, Supt Brennan said. Gardaí had not established the age and sex of the baby.
A spokeswoman for the Garda was unable to say last night whether these details would be disclosed.
The scene at Kildalkey, meanwhile, has been preserved and examined by the Garda technical bureau.
