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

rain but when you think about it, what additional security could be put in place? It's a hospital not a prison and mercifully incidents like this are rare so putting security guards etc isn't really a viable solution. Security in hospital is there usually to keep people out, not in.

I think it was a door release that she pressed.

Oh totally agree about the nurse, people walk about all day so they wouldn't even notice someone walking past them in a public area.

Nick, obviously not security guards just some measure that a woman couldn't leave without someone knowing. As I said, the hospital I was in had two buzzers, both of which had cameras on so whoever lets you out can see you first before releasing the door.

The nurses there quite possibly work on a different ward. They might not even be nurses. They could be cleaners, physios, nursing assistants.

rain in effect that would have to be some sort of security guard, someone whose main job is to let people in and out?

I had my baby a year ago and can't remember what they had as I only left the ward once and that's when I went home, but if it is like the other wards then it was cameras and door release.

In the hospital the wards for mental health patients were exactly the same and people walked out constantly resulting in searches.

Where I work people can't let themselves out the maternity wards.

They can only be swiped out by a member of staff with a card. If someone was wanting to leave with a baby then they'd need their discharge slip before the receptionist would let them out.

I am feeling so sad for this poor lady and what she must have been going through. Also for her family and of course hoping desperately that the baby is found safely.

I cannot begin to imagine what state she was in when she left the hospital.

I think the swipe card would be a good idea and less oppressive than having to be buzzed out by someone iyswim? I know there isn't much difference but it doesn't see as full on if that makes sense?

People shouldn't be prevented from leaving - nobody is on a maternity ward against their will.

Instead if someone is considered vulnerable then greater steps should be put in place to help to get them the support they need, and, as controversial as this is to talk about, if someone is considered that vulnerable then perhaps greater steps need to be taken to safeguard the baby.

We read all the time about people who slate social services for taking mh issues into account when a woman is pregnant because there is a perceived risk to the baby, clearly in this case the mother's issues did present a risk to her baby and this has been addressed far too late.

It is so desperately sad but I can't imagine what the baby's father is going through not even knowing where his baby is. After 36 hours missing this cannot possibly end well.

Shit! Sorry I did read back and didn't think anyone had posted it :(

Even if someone had seen her leave they couldn't have physically stopped her leaving. If they couldn't have convinced her to stay then They could have called the police but it would be up to the police what they did.

The swipe system isn't to prevent mums leaving. However it is useful that if someone does decide to leave then the staff at least know they've gone even if its against advice. The main benefit of the swipe cards or the buzzer system is to prevent baby abduction by a stranger.

I work in a hospital. I walk past people in slippers every day. Mostly going out for a smoke but sometimes for a wander and a bit of fresh air. If I saw somebody further away from the site I would say something but not in the circumstances this appears to have featured.
In retrospect perhaps this woman should have had a staff member working 1:1 with her. But you can only do that if you have the staff and sometimes you might have more than one patient needing that, so it's a question of how you can balance the resources and the risk. Very tragically sometimes the wrong call will be made.

This is just such awfully sad news, the poor mum and her poor dp and family. I hope that by some miracle the baby is safe somewhere.

I think it's a shame that she seemingly had a good support system in place with her dp and mum but she was left in hospital alone with 30 minute midwife checks which clearly were just not enough, I wonder if she had had her mum or dp with her if this tragedy would have been prevented.

I gave birth a month ago and I had a terrible reaction to my post birth hormones, I was so unhappy and although I didn't consider harming my baby I certainly had suicidal thoughts. My dp didn't leave me alone at all, he took care of our baby and older dc, he did the sleepless nights and early mornings just helping me have lovely skin to skin and cuddles with our dc. I dread to think how I would have reacted if I had been in hospital on day 5 alone with the prospect of another sleepless night, I certainly wouldn't have been thinking logically.

I don't think any woman should be alone soon after giving birth especially woman with a history of mh problems. I understand the logistics of allowing each woman to have support from a family member or dp would be extremely hard but I think it would prevent situations like this.

The dark clouds are starting to lift for me but I feel very lucky that I was at home and I had support to help me get through it, I wish that Charlotte had had the same.

Incredibly sad. I will be really interested to find out what happened here. I'm wondering if she was perhaps having problems breastfeeding. I did and had an absolutely horrendous experience in hospital where I was basically treated like a prisoner of war for two weeks and put on a regime of only being allowed 15 minutes sleep every 3 hours. My little boy was almost starved and got very ill and the nurses and breastfeeding support workers were basically allowed to behave in a way which would be classed abusive anywhere else in a hospital. Shouting at me, calling me a bad mother and questioning my mental health because I wasn't producing any milk. I have long said the tactics used to encourage breastfeeding could tip someone vulnerable over the edge and I wouldn't be at all surprised if that had happened here.

I think it's a massive leap to say it might be linked to breast feeding, it is reported that she had mental health issues prior to the birth.

Such a tragic and sad case. That poor woman. There's obviously been huge failings in the care this mother and baby received.

If this lady has indeed jumped into the Avon Gorge, then this is an unbelievably rare event, and no blame could possibly be attached to the staff at the maternity hospital. They couldn't possibly presume as a default that every new mother wanted to harm herself or her baby.

And day 3/4 postpartum is just about the worst- if you had existing mental health issues, it could easily be enough to push a person over the metaphorical edge.

That poor tormented woman. My heart breaks for her.

Yes, but people who have mental health issues prior to the birth are most likely to be vulnerable to being tipped over the edge. I don't know if it is or not, but I will be interested to see how it pans out. There are already reports that she may have stopped taking medication to breastfeed. And she seemed to be in hospital longer than normal so I did wonder if feeding problems were the cause but I don't know.

Duchesse, to say point blank that the hospital staff 'couldn't possibly be to blame' is wrong imo. Until an investigation is completed you can't say one way or another. There are certainly circumstances where they could be blamed, for example if they had advised her to stop medication to breastfeed or if they had put her under undue pressure. It remains to be seen. But I know from my own experience that sometimes mothers in maternity wards are treated horrendously. And it could tip someone over the edge.

As I've said I don't know anything for certain, but I'm definitely keeping an open mind. Particularly as her friends reported that she had seemed happy and well after the birth and despite any pre-existing mh issues what she did was very out of character.

Blame absolutely should be attached to the hospital. Or at least some responsibility and reflection as blame isn't particularly useful. She had been under their care. New mothers at their most vulnerable should not be able to just walk out like that.

I doubt there's anyone here who walked out of hospital with their new baby without a procedure of some sort being followed, forms being done, chats with midwives etc.

We need to start acknowledging the impact of carrying and delivering a baby has on a woman's body and mind.

Seems this poor girl was failed by mental health service.
There is a special mental health mother and baby unit in Bristol. Why wasn't she bring cared for there?
Plus why was she breast feeding, do hope she wasn't pushed to feed this way. Clearly in this instance; breast was not best. If she had bottle fed she could have remained on all her medication. Plus she could have avoided sleep deprivation as others could have fed baby.
Thoughts are with her partner and family. So so sad.

Blame shouldn't be attached to anyone or anywhere until an enquiry is completed. Maybe they are at fault but we don't know at the moment.

A new mother with mental health issues will not be unusual so I'm not sue what anyone could suggest? Lock them all up?

But an incident like this is rare and it's understandable there will be knee jerk reactions but it's not the answer to keep women locked in a maternity unit.

We do occasionally read of women who are at home and harm themselves or baby after suffering psychosis or similar.