Options
Do you feel sympathy for these parents?
![[Deleted User]](https://w4.vanillicon.com/v2/4a9ff6a1e61eb6192a0dd6a44cef3539.svg)
[Deleted User]
Posts: 17,060 Forum Member
✭✭
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2140375/Newborn-baby-suffocated-mother-let-sleep-sofa.html
I know the Daily Mail like to put their own venomous spin on things, but the facts are that this woman (who had previously served two years in jail for causing her sisters death by reckless driving) and her partner left their seven week old daughter to sleep on a cushion on the sofa and she suffocated. The woman also admitted 'I should've put her in the Moses basket, I know, but I always put her on the settee and she has always been fine.'
I am surprised they haven't been prosecuted for child neglect, they repeatedly put her at risk and she was only seven weeks old when she died.
I would normally have all the sympathy in the world for a couple who lost their baby, but this amount of ignorance and incompetence just makes me feel angry. I just hope that if they pro-create again, social services keep a very close eye on them.
I know the Daily Mail like to put their own venomous spin on things, but the facts are that this woman (who had previously served two years in jail for causing her sisters death by reckless driving) and her partner left their seven week old daughter to sleep on a cushion on the sofa and she suffocated. The woman also admitted 'I should've put her in the Moses basket, I know, but I always put her on the settee and she has always been fine.'
I am surprised they haven't been prosecuted for child neglect, they repeatedly put her at risk and she was only seven weeks old when she died.
I would normally have all the sympathy in the world for a couple who lost their baby, but this amount of ignorance and incompetence just makes me feel angry. I just hope that if they pro-create again, social services keep a very close eye on them.
0
Comments
But you could also say the same thing for a parent who beat their child to death. I know that's an extreme example, but they only had to give their baby the most basic level of care to keep her alive and they couldn't be bothered!
No, you can't prop a baby up, even in a cot, they have to lie flat.
I'm sure my children sparked out on the sofa a million times. And in those days all the advice was to put babies to sleep on their tummies. It is a wonder anyone survived.
Well you see... the parents might have simply been ignorant due to inexperience and thought it as safe as the cot.... It wasnt down to negligence
These people didn't abuse or neglect their baby, and certainly didn't commit murder, so I wish them peace and some comfort in their very sad loss.
I would wonder though, had she not had alcohol, valium, methadone and traces of cannabis and amphetamines in her system, would she maybe not have made the wrong choice? That is what I would be questioning of myself if I was in her position.
Either way, she has had the biggest punishment in the world, and one I can't even imagine going through.
All new parents are inexperienced, but for most it goes the other way and they are over-cautious with their babies.
And I know you have to take DM quotes with a pinch of salt but the 'it was always fine before' part of the mums quote seems to show a lack of awareness and responsibility. It clearly wasn't fine when it was the cause of her death.
My personal answer, however, is "yes".
I still think you're being harsh to not feel any sympathy towards them
Quote.
A toxicology report also showed she had taken prescription valium, and there were traces of cannabis and amphetamine she used some days earlier when her mother had looked after the baby.
Ms Wall was on medication for post-natal depression which, she said, is what kept her awake on the morning of the death, and methadone
Why is the driving conviction relevant? (other than to put a venomous spin on things)
It isn't enough that they have lost their baby - you would want them done for neglect. Of course I'm sympathetic.
No, I'm not expecting others to agree with me, and I'm questioning whether my opinion is too harsh, but I suppose I'm remembering my experiences as a parent.
A seven week old isn't a big robust baby, it's a tiny little thing that would look lost on a sofa. I can't even imagine putting a seven week old (and younger) down on the sofa when both parents are there in the same room. It's lovely to have them sleep in your arms, they barely weigh anything.
Maybe it was that I was a madly over-protective parent, I don't understand the cavalier approach.
I never had any sympathy for the McCanns either. I just think that when it comes to your kids you don't take any chances.
It's possibly relevant in this case, she has lost two family members through unnecessary and reckless actions. I can feel pity for her, but not sympathy.
It's fairly obvious she was a druggie and probably cared little.
Why in the world would you suppose that a mother would 'care little' for her child? Do you not like the look of her? Do you think the small traces of cannabis in her tox screen have made her incapable of human feeling?
More than a bit presumptious. Do you often draw conclusions from such little knowledge or evidence of the situation!???
I don't know how to multi quote but my post 14 shows it wasn't cannabis but other drugs as well. Methamphetamine and methadone.
... And why would this mean that she didn't care about her baby?
Yes mine too.. trouble is with parenting is that it changes from mother to daughter to granddaughter and each thinks their way is / was the right way, then pow all change again