NEWAYGO COUNTY, MI -- A teenager believed to be the mother of a newborn abandoned on the side of a Newaygo County road watched from her yard as neighbors found the girl in the dirt, one of the rescuers said.

Kathleen Neal waved the teen over after finding the child in the 500 block of West Marion Road in White Cloud about 10:30 a.m. Monday. Neal initially thought the teen was outside to feed her dog that was on a chain in the yard, but the teen seemed curious about the group of neighbors who'd gathered across the street.

The neighbors told the teen about the newborn girl, found naked and with part of the umbilical cord attached, and asked if she knew anything. Neal said she had no idea the newborn may be the teen's.

"She acted like she was totally clueless, like she didn’t know what happened. She said she saw a car drive by at 5:30 a.m.," Neal said. "She also said that if it was hers, she would never do something like that and how could anybody do something like that to a baby."

The infant may have been outside for almost six hours, Newaygo County sheriff's Lt. Chad Palmiter said. She was transported to Gerber Memorial Hospital in Fremont with scrapes on her body, but appeared to be in good condition, Palmiter said.

Sheriff's officials have not identified the mother, who was transported to a hospital for a post-birth evaluation. Neal said the teenager covered her face as a stretcher wheeled her to an ambulance.

The baby was discovered when Neal's father took her black Labrador mix on a walk. The dog, Bobby, led Neal's father to the child underneath a nearby satellite dish. The child was naked and had leaves and grass stuck to her skin.

Neal and others initially worried the cold, motionless infant had not survived.

"She didn’t move, she didn’t cry or nothing until we got her completely wrapped in a towel and cuddled her," she said. "After a while she calmed down and we kept checking on her. We were tying to keep her warm because she was cold."

Neal, her mother and another neighbor took turns holding the girl until medical personnel arrived. She seemed to be a healthy weight and wasn't premature, Neal said.

"My mom prayed for her and let the officers do what they needed to do," she said.

Palmiter said he expects Child Protective Services to petition for custody of the child. No charges have been filed against the mother, he said Monday. Authorities plan to submit a report to the prosecutor’s office for review in the days.

Neal said she saw the teenager occasionally and did not know she was pregnant.

She hopes the incident serves as a reminder of Michigan's "Safe Delivery for Newborns" law that allows for the surrender of an infant, from birth to 72 hours old, to an emergency service provider.

"To just put that poor precious thing right out there in the road in the cold with animals out, you never know what could’ve happened to that poor baby," she said.

Angie Jackson covers public safety and breaking news for MLive/The Grand Rapids Press. Email her at ajackso3@mlive.com, and follow her on Twitter.