Mum kept baby hidden in drawer for nearly 3 years !!

[benjaminjamesandgraham]

Even Christmas day she was kept in a drawer - oh how can someone be so cruel
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gz1dv8ly2o

One of the most shocking threads I’ve ever read. I cannot imagine what that poor child has suffered.

Sadly true. Some of the things I’ve read over my previous career beggars belief. Any of them would deserve headlines. There is so much trauma and horror being inflicted on the world.

This particular story is particularly unsettling though. There’s something truly horrendous about a form of imprisonment like this.

This is so distressing to read. The poor child, as the mother had other children she obviously knew this was so very wrong. I can't quite believe this level of cruelty and neglect.

@ChristmasCheesecake Any child that experiences trauma acknowledges it. Professionally I have observed children removed in early infancy who display long lasting behaviour associated with the early childhood trauma that they have experienced.

I’m sorry to say that I feel really upset by this being posted on here. If I wanted to read the news, I would. This has absolutely floored me and I’ve actually been in tears as a result of even reading just the headline. I came here to say I don’t think you should share this kind of content on here and if you do, you should put a trigger warning. And before anyone comes at me with snarky comments, I’ve never before expressed a need for a trigger warning. This is mumsnet not the BBC.

Christ. That made me gasp out loud. I need brain bleach.. that poor poor child. It is unimaginable what that mother did.

It is absolutely shocking. I imagine giving birth alone unexpectedly to a child with a deformity during a pandemic induced lockdown was traumatic enough to trigger a major mental health break.

There are genetic conditions linked to cleft palate and small size and other deformities. Feeding the child through a syringe was probably due to the cleft palate. What I am imagining is a mother with learning difficulties or some sort of psychosis believing she is protecting the child, not some deliberately planned cruelty.

I do find it shocking the siblings didn't find out and she didn't show any other signs of concerning behaviour. And I wonder why she didn't feel able to tell her partner.

Same.

@GrapefruitFrog I feel the same. I stay away from the news but sometimes am bombarded by it on here.

Jesus. What fresh hell is this

I agree with this despite it being against the grain of the other posters.

I feel there has to be some significant mental health issues at play here.

Not saying it is right, just trying to be objective.

I’m in tears here. I hadn’t seen that on the news.
I can’t get my head around how she got away with it for so long? Especially seen as she had a partner. And what the hell could have been her long term plan for that child if she hadn’t been caught? Thank god the child was found.

As someone with a cleft palate myself this absolutely sickens me. Was the child too deformed for the mother to seek help? She needed life changing surgery at a young age which she has missed out on. It will be so much harder now to rectify and will probably have worse deformity than she would’ve had otherwise. The poor poor child.

7 years. Flayed alive more.like it. The justice system is useless.

Just came across this story on social media and it’s honestly one of the worst things I’ve ever read. I can’t process the horror of it.

Are u a social worker?

Horrific, but what does anyone gain from knowing this?

This is exactly why we need these safe haven boxes in every fire station in the UK. I'm not saying it would of made a difference in this case but it might have.

I have no words.
I read this with tears in my eyes as I’m sat here breastfeeding my baby with my son lay beside me watching a film after a lovely dinner and a hot bath… the bare minimum we should do for our children. I feel sick to my stomach, how the fuck can somebody be so utterly disgustingly cruel. To deprive her of everything, even love 💔.
What an absolute monster.

Who was the father of the child? Presumably not the man who found her.

Post-partum psychosis perhaps. But I'm guessing no one even knew she was pregnant or there would have been checks, which suggests that even before birth there was a significant issue. But how on earth did she have a partner in her home, presumably in her bedroom, with a baby/toddler hidden in there? And other kids? The whole thing is nuts and if it was a novel, I'd be scoffing at plot holes.

I can’t bring myself to read the full news article. The poor little girl.

The mother needs shooting. That poor poor child.

I don't think it would be post partum psychosis as it went on for 3 years

That would be very illegal.