Psting in AIBU for traffic - Bristol mum and newborn have gone missing, please keep your eyes open if in bristol!

[KnitFastDieWarm]

Apologies for posting here but the Avon and Somerset police are running an urgent appeal for the safe return of Bristol mum Charlotte Bevan and her four day old baby, who have gone missing from a central Bristol maternity unit and haven't been seen for over 12 hours. PLEASE keep an eye out for her and phone the police if you see her - she's white, around 5'8, dark hair, wearing a black top, black trousers and hospital slippers or flip flops. Her baby is wrapped in a stripey blanket.

Hoping and praying for a safe return sad

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/dec/03/mother-baby-missing-bristol-maternity-hospital

Why would you have refused though, Nicky? It doesn't do the baby any harm, and made going to the loo a little less worrying.

Don't think I was ever offered the choice, it just happened.

It never occurred to me to refuse for my two to be tagged. I thought it was great. That was 15 and 12 years ago now.

Like I said, I was in a private room with an en suite so never left the baby while I was in. In that circumstance I probably wouldn't have wanted a device attached to my new baby.

If I was on a ward then I probably would have gladly had it.

The tags weren't all that big IIRC are they even smaller now?

How strange that some tagging goes back years and some never occur at all. I wonder if it's to do with location or trust? Probably NHS budget!

I had no idea that it didn't happen everywhere. i thought it was NHS protocol.

Mine were given little plastic bracelets and ankle straps - but i don't think they were electronic. DS2 is 11 so not that long ago.

Poor woman

And of course she 'should' have been allowed to leave the hospital if she wanted to. She wasn't in prison.

Our maternity unit was only built 8 years ago and it's certainly not done there. Maybe they balance risk = cost especially if they have other measures in place like secure doors and CCTV?

I am really shocked. We had secure doors and electronic tags in 1999. Presumably no CCTV though.

Unless the little wrist/ankle identity bands mine had had a chip in them and I didn't realise?

My hosptial is also a big fancy newly expanded place as well and dd was born in march?

Irian that is an excellent point. Charlotte was due to be discharged in a day or two anyway, and free to leave on her own. I very much wonder if she was suffering in silence with her symptoms, as often many do when first giving birth. I believe there is still a "you're supposed to be over the moon!" pressure/expectation on ALL women who've just given birth, regardless of mental health issues, which needs addressing, I feel.

I'm sorry if that errs on the side of speculation, but I am just trying to process the facts given without putting blame on any one entity/individual.

DD was born in 2013 and like someone said above, unless the ID bracelets have tiny chips in them, she definitely had no electronic tag on her. We had to go through a big process, checking her IDs against mine before they let us go home, though.

miaow I imagine they vary in style depending on the hospital? And I've never seen them so I imagine them to be slightly bulky. What was the point of one you had to tuck into a nappy as anyone would just remove it?

DS born in 2007 in a big Oxford hospital and definitely no tag of any kind.

When I gave birth I was placed on the mat unit until physically fit for discharge and then was transferred to a mother and baby unit (MABU). This was because I had a history of bipolar and people with bipolar have an up to 50% risk of psychosis in the neonatal period. This was a plan put in place by the psych team looking after me and the social workers whose job it was to look after my son.
I had a very difficult birth and had to be kept in the mat ward for 2 days due to a big haemorrhage. As soon as I was signed off by the midwives as physically fit we got transferred across.
I stayed for 1 month in the MABU despite not being psychotic and totally stable to do a parenting assessment and then when I passed with flying colours they sent me home with daily visits from social workers. After a few weeks it became apparent that I was no risk to my son so the visits got less frequent and they closed the case.
I was told when I got to the MABU, of which there was only 7 in the UK, it was very unusual I got a bed straight away as there is a national bed shortage for MABUs and normally women in my position are kept on mat wards, even when physically fit, pending a bed coming up.
When I was on the mat ward, as it had been flagged up I had bipolar, the midwives watched me like a hawk. I was told by the midwife they had no legal powers to block me leaving the ward (as I was not under a section). However if I made any attempt to leave they would be informing the police and social services.
I do not understand what has gone on here. She was on the ward for 4 days, so could have been waiting for a MABU bed. If this is the case there is no way she should have just been allowed to wander off.
I think what has happened is tragic news, not just for her and her baby, but for all mothers to be with MH issues. Now this has happened social services are going to be a lot more proactive removing babies at birth just like after the baby P scandal.

A body has been found

My dc were born in the other maternity hospital in Bristol and you are not allowed to leave with a baby unless the ward calls down to the security man on the door and authorises it. It's not like being in prison as an adult can leave whenever but you are unable to take a baby unless it's been arranged. Never heard of electronic tags until now so don't think they are used in Bristol
It's been very cold here the last few nights :( they must believe the baby is there somewhere as they are continuing the search :( it's devastating

A baby Kilmuir? :(

MrsRhett

When it is a mum with serious MH issues it IS more like prison, they single you out and watch you a lot more than the other mums as the midwives have a duty of care to the mum and a duty to protect the baby from harm. Although it is horrible being treated like this the multi-disciplinary team looking after vulnerable mums are right to do this to keep everyone safe.

Such heart breaking news.

RIP, whoever you turn out to be .

Can posters check their facts before posting about bodies being found? That's the second poster to say "they found a body" which leads people to think it's the baby as the female body was found last night.

Just asking people to be clearer in their posting, thanks.

I had dc in 2012 at other bristol hospital and i think they were only paper name labels. But had to be signed out.

Its very strange to me she would take the baby.

They should have had to sign baby out as otherwise people could go off with babies with say jaundice, not feeding, losing weight.

I have just checked the latest on Twitter and an adult female body has been found and the identification is pending.

Baby has not been found as of yet.

Sorry ralt that's what I was meaning, the posters have maybe only heard themselves but obviously the found body was last night. I checked twitter and news agencies myself to see if was the baby but the posters must mean the female.

But please just take a second to check the thread or elaborate on "they found a body". I'm sure I'm not the only one that thought they meant the baby.