Catholic mother kills baby from shame

QAM

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/5565706/Catholic-mother-killed-newborn-baby-from-shame-after-giving-birth-alone.html

Catholic mother killed newborn baby from 'shame' after giving birth alone

A Catholic mother, who did not know she was pregnant, killed her newly born son within moments of giving birth alone, an inquest heard.

Elizabeth Tevenan, 30, who later died from severe blood loss, gave birth in November 2008 in the downstairs lavatory of the home she shared with her parents in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Miss Tevenan, who was an only child with a strict Catholic upbringing, is believed to have been unaware of the pregnancy until she gave birth.

The inquest at Leamington Town Hall, Warwickshire, heard that her son was born alive and would have taken a few breaths before he died from having tissue stuffed down his throat.

The child who has now been named Nicholas Patrick Tevenan, weighed 6lb 13oz and was born at around 37 weeks.

In a statement read out by the coroner, paediatric pathologist Dr James Lucas said: "His lungs were expanded, he would have only taken a few breaths before death occurred."

He described how a piece of tissue paper was found at the back of the throat.

"This constrained the entrance to the voice box, deliberately obstructing the upper airway, causing asphyxia which caused rapid death."

The inquest heard that Elizabeth had been rushed to hospital after being found by her mother covered in blood, and showed signs of child birth upon examination.

Police then returned to the four-bedroom property to search for an infant where they found a baby concealed under a pile of towels next to the toilet.

PC Judith Wolsey from Warwickshire Police, told the inquest that she had entered the house and followed a trail of blood through the house to the downstairs toilet before finding the baby.

She said: "I felt physically shocked and "I remember saying 'there's a baby' - I couldn't believe what I'd seen."

The officer told the inquest how they picked the baby up and tried to resuscitate him until the ambulance arrived.

Elizabeth's parents did not attend the hearing, but the coroner read out a statement from her 58-year-old mother Bridget Tevenan.

In it Elizabeth was described as a "bubbly, happy" girl who loved reading novels, listening to Classic FM and watching Eastenders and Casualty.

Elizabeth was found by her mother in the bathroom on the morning of November 13 after she became concerned about her.

"She was in the downstairs toilet, I called to her through the door, 'Are you ok', and she said 'Yes I'll be out in 15 to 20 minutes'.

Shortly after Mrs Tevenan said when she opened the door she saw her daughter sitting on the toilet with blood all over her legs, at which point she rang the ambulance.

"I said 'Oh my God you've haemorrhaged' - she was white like snow and disorientated," she added.

The inquest also heard that her mother tried to clean the blood from her legs because she wanted her to have "dignity" as she knew there would be men in the house.

Her mother said her family were Catholic and Elizabeth was "brought up very strict".

She said she would have "loved" a grandchild and although she would have "hit the ceiling", if she knew she was pregnant, she would eventually have "calmed down".

The inquest was also told that Elizabeth's mother knew she had a boyfriend, but she had never met him.

The father was identified as Noel Bannister, after DNA tests were carried out. He attended the hearing but refused to comment afterwards.

Coroner Sean McGovern said: "I am entirely satisfied she was unaware of her pregnancy. It is impossible to know when she became aware she was giving birth.

"If she'd been aware her water broke, it's likely to me that early medical attention could have prevented her death.

"My verdict is that she died as a result of natural causes.

"I am satisfied the child was born alive but someone deliberately pushed tissue paper into the throat causing asphyxia leading to the death of the person."

The coroner said they could have been "acting in a condition of complete panic" and recorded a verdict of unlawful killing.

Hooray for Catholicism. It's only function is to breath fear and shame into weak minded people.

speedboatchase

"who did not know she was pregnant"

ABUHHHHHHH

humanji

The same could of happened if the parents were strict athiests, tbh. It wouldn't be the first time a woman killed her child in order to pretend it never happened. Terrible sad story.

Borneo Fnctn

A lunatic killed her baby. Catholicism is irrelevant here. And I'm no fan of the church

The Gnome

speedboatchase wrote: »

"who did not know she was pregnant"

ABUHHHHHHH

The figures the paper gave were startling - every year in France, between 1,600 and 2,000 women apparently suffer from pregnancy denial, and at least 230 discover or admit they're pregnant only at the moment they give birth.

Surprisingly, most of the examples cited were not of teenage girls who had never had a baby - they were mainly mothers of at least two children who were all so mentally opposed to the thought of having another child that they didn't show a single physical symptom of their pregnancy.

Source


Interesting, to say the least...

Quazzie

Them darn pesky Catholics up to their old tricks again

GlindaGale

That is hearbreaking really.

Nevyn

They have a mental break and just do not acknowledge any of the signs or symphoms and put them down to other things. It's more common then people think and is pretty unforunate.

Tupins

jackpalance wrote: »

A lunatic killed her baby. Catholicism is irrelevant here. And I'm no fan of the church

I disagree - the mother herself said that she would have 'hit the ceiling' if she had known her daughter was pregnant. She also mentioned she was a strict Catholic which basically means that she was opposed to sex outside of marriage. It's a logical conclusion that the reason she would have 'hit the ceiling' would be because of her religious beliefs. It's not like her daughter was a young teen or anything. The daughter obviously knew this, and because the parents were so strict a 30 year old woman was afraid to tell them the truth!

It's very, very sad.

Fink Goddie

In fairness tho at 30 you have to stop caring about what your parents want and be your own person.

WindSock

Tupins wrote: »

I disagree - the mother herself said that she would have 'hit the ceiling' if she had known her daughter was pregnant. She also mentioned she was a strict Catholic which basically means that she was opposed to sex outside of marriage. It's a logical conclusion that the reason she would have 'hit the ceiling' would be because of her religious beliefs. It's not like her daughter was a young teen or anything. The daughter obviously knew this, and because the parents were so strict a 30 year old woman was afraid to tell them the truth!

It's very, very sad.

Well her parents are loonies then. I'm no fan of the church either but it's such a soft target and easy excuse for the psycho behaviour of others.

Borneo Fnctn

Tupins wrote: »

I disagree - the mother herself said that she would have 'hit the ceiling' if she had known her daughter was pregnant. She also mentioned she was a strict Catholic which basically means that she was opposed to sex outside of marriage. It's a logical conclusion that the reason she would have 'hit the ceiling' would be because of her religious beliefs. It's not like her daughter was a young teen or anything. The daughter obviously knew this, and because the parents were so strict a 30 year old woman was afraid to tell them the truth!

It's very, very sad.

Yeah but doesn't christianity tell people not to kill? The woman is insane.

mickoneill30

Tupins wrote: »

I disagree

...
She also mentioned she was a strict Catholic which basically means that she was opposed to sex outside of marriage.

There's something about Thou shalt not kill which is kind of important to any Catholic (or human). She's a lunatic that happens to be Catholic.

I'm no fan of religion either.

Edit: Crap beaten to it by jackpalance.

Pop's Diner

At least the son won't have to grow up to be a catholic.

WindSock

Maybe she took the 'dropping the kids off at the pool' phrase quite literally.

Guy:Incognito

The parents arent that great at being Catholocs really if the girl was an only child.

Wossack

DIY abortions for some, miniature american flags for others

Fink Goddie

Stekelly wrote: »

The parents arent that great at being Catholocs really if the girl was an only child.

Maybe they only had sex once.

Borneo Fnctn

Fink Goddie wrote: »

Maybe they only had sex once.

Just like my parents then. My brother and sister were adopted. They... did it once to conceive me. And that was that.

Lollipops23

what a horroble thing to happen. what kind of crazy strict parents would scare their kid so much that she would think this was the only way out?

and she wasn't even a child, at 30 years of age you'd think she would have the cop on and wherewithall to figure it all out.

on the subject of not knowing; it really does happen!if the baby is carried up under the ribs she wouldn't show and i'm guessing she wasn't the type to parade around in skimpy clothes. she was probably too ashamed to discuss her periods and may not have realised that missing one was a sign of pregnancy.

philologos

Another Catholic-bashing frenzy. Just when you think it's all over, it begins all over again.

Mountjoy Mugger

Pop's Diner wrote: »

At least the son won't have to grow up to be a catholic.

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Morlar

Another lunatic killed their parents and ran off into the night clutching an xbox game there not too long ago. That one wasn't microsoft's fault likewise this one is not the fault of catholicism. Grow up.

ejmaztec

Stekelly wrote: »

The parents arent that great at being Catholocs really if the girl was an only child.

Might be worth a look under the patio.:eek:

netwhizkid

How come she didn't kill herself from the shame of having sex? or maybe it was an immaculate conception. My parents are ultra conservative catholics too, yet I have had several partners, no shame here I tells ya!

phasers

Fink Goddie

jackpalance wrote: »

Just like my parents then. My brother and sister were adopted. They... did it once to conceive me. And that was that.

Maybe you put them off :pac:

The_Minister

Catholicism would condemn the infanticide far more than her being pregnant outside wedlock.

wes

This is pretty tragic, but as has been pointed out by other above, it is something that does happen from time to time. Some people go into extreme denial and do messed up crap like.

Also, I fail to see how this has feck all to do with Catholicism, especially in light of the Religions strict Anti-Abortion stance. Going to go out on a limb here and assume, they would be against killing babies right after there born as well.

Fink Goddie

After all the scandals, why does anyone care what the catholic church thinks anymore, pack of gangsters!
Its just a big money making racket, biggest scam in history, with a load of rules made up by men trying to keep everyone down!
Just live your life and try to be a nice person, nevermind religion, its the root of all evil.

~me~

It is possible that she didnt know until she went into labour, not from denial, just that she didnt know, it happens alot. especially if she was quite heavy to start with. it happens when the baby lies parallel to the mothers spine (afaik, correct me if im wrong!) so theres no big bump. sure i didnt show til six months and i was a size six before i fell pregnant so its fairly possible that she didnt know and its hard enough to find out you're pregnant unexpectantly but when its only when you're in labour im sure its physically shocking!
god love the person who found the poor baby though, id say it was horrific.

Stercus Accidit

The_Minister wrote: »

Catholicism would condemn the infanticide far more than her being pregnant outside wedlock.

Catholicism's views are repugnant and should be ignored at all times, they barely manage to get a few basics right and the list of things they get wrong, well, it's about time that cult and all its ilk are treated with the disdain and cynicism they so rightfully deserve.

Whats that phrase, evil people do evil things, good people do good things, but for a good person to do evil things, it takes religion.

Directly because of religion or not, I won't argue that, but it makes a pretty swaying indicator of what might have factored into this incident.

DTrotter

Stercus Accidit wrote: »

Catholicism's views are repugnant and should be ignored at all times, they barely manage to get a few basics right and the list of things they get wrong, well, it's about time that cult and all its ilk are treated with the disdain and cynicism they so rightfully deserve.

Whats that phrase, evil people do evil things, good people do good things, but for a good person to do evil things, it takes religion.

Directly because of religion or not, I won't argue that, but it makes a pretty swaying indicator of what might have factored into this incident.

NO!!!!
Old, celibate, unmarried virgins should be the leading vocies when it comes to sex, abortion and pregnancy.
On a serious note, how many women from good old catholic Ireland had abortions due to feelings of shame/sin?

Morlar

DTrotter wrote: »

NO!!!!
Old, celibate, unmarried virgins should be the leading vocies when it comes to sex, abortion and pregnancy.
On a serious note, how many women from good old catholic Ireland had abortions due to feelings of shame/sin?

So to recap you are blaming the Catholic Church for abortions now yep ?

DTrotter

Morlar wrote: »

So to recap you are blaming the Catholic Church for abortions now yep ?

No, I'm just asking how much an impact the backward view of single mothers (put forth by the church to an extent) that existed/exists led to women having abortions?

wes

Stercus Accidit wrote: »

Catholicism's views are repugnant and should be ignored at all times, they barely manage to get a few basics right and the list of things they get wrong, well, it's about time that cult and all its ilk are treated with the disdain and cynicism they so rightfully deserve.

Which doesn't really matter in this context, seeing as Catholicism, is very much against this sort of thing.

Sure, you can pull them up on all sorts of other crap, but this isn't one of them.

Stercus Accidit wrote: »

Whats that phrase, evil people do evil things, good people do good things, but for a good person to do evil things, it takes religion.

How do you explain all the communists who murdered a whole lot of people for the greater good? Do you think they taught themselves to be evil? The problem with your phrase, is that there are plenty of other reason's for Good people to do "evil". All you have to believe is that your right and the end justify the means. Plenty of instances of this through out history.

Stercus Accidit wrote: »

Directly because of religion or not, I won't argue that, but it makes a pretty swaying indicator of what might have factored into this incident.

How so? Doesn't her Religion strenously forbid what she did? The Catholic church is hugely anti-abortion for example, so would hardly be pro killing babies outside the womb. I find it hard to believe that she would be unaware of her churchs position on this.

Regardless, of this. How do you know her reasoning? All, we know is that her parents are strict Catholics. Thats all we know. Clearly, the daughter wasn't so stict herself, as she has sex outside marriage.

In fact the article head line is very misleading, as there is no evidence presented for her reasoning at all inside the article. Just comments from her parents. We have no indication at all why she did what she did and this sort of thing isn't actually unknow and a link to similar cases was provided earlier.

Wagon

jackpalance wrote: »

A lunatic killed her baby. Catholicism is irrelevant here. And I'm no fan of the church

Look at their reactions? Mother gave birth in a bathroom and died as a result after killing the child to save it from "shame". The mother would have "hit the roof". She tried to clean daughter because there would me men in the house. Who the hell reacts like that to an emergency?! Who would kill a baby a few minutes old?

This does have something to do with the teachings of the church. You can get complete loopers regardless of their beliefs but in this case, yes religion is a major factor in it.

wes

DTrotter wrote: »

No, I'm just asking how much an impact the backward view of single mothers (put forth by the church to an extent) that existed/exists led to women having abortions?

So, let me get this straight. You are suggesting that some Women got aboritions due to the Catholics church stance on single mothers. So, we are to assume, that the Women cared enough about what the Catholic church taught about single mothers, to get a abortion, despite the fact that the Catholic church is very much against abortion and they didn't care about there stance on that? I just somehow find it hard to understand your reasoning here. It doesn't really add up.

Morlar

DTrotter wrote: »

No, I'm just asking how much an impact the backward view of single mothers (put forth by the church to an extent) that existed/exists led to women having abortions?

At some point personal responsibility should come into this.

Contorting this all into being the Fault of catholicism rather than the individual is a massive cop-out.

You don't get to NOT follow catholic teaching in the first instance, and, then NOT follow catholic teaching a 2nd time in an attempt to cover the first up - and then blame the whole mess on catholicism.

Maddison

I dont believe this has anything to do with religion. Childbirth is hard enough, having childbirth come on when you didnt know you were pregnant in the first place would be extremeley frightening. Normally women have the duration of their pregnancy to get used to the idea of parenthood & to prepare themselves mentally as well as physically for labour. If she had have survived, It could have been seen as temporary insanity.

rororoyourboat

What a tragedy.

DTrotter

wes wrote: »

So, let me get this straight. You are suggesting that some Women got aboritions due to the Catholics church stance on single mothers. So, we are to assume, that the Women cared enough about what the Catholic church taught about single mothers, to get a abortion, despite the fact that the Catholic church is very much against abortion and they didn't care about there stance on that? I just somehow find it hard to understand your reasoning here. It doesn't really add up.

No, the women would care about the public perception (why were some single mothers shipped off to institutions and remember the Myers article recently) which would be influenced by the church, celibate men no less. Of course people have abortions for various other reasons.

DTrotter

Morlar wrote: »

At some point personal responsibility should come into this.

Contorting this all into being the Fault of catholicism rather than the individual is a massive cop-out.

You don't get to NOT follow catholic teaching in the first instance, and, then NOT follow catholic teaching a 2nd time in an attempt to cover the first up - and then blame the whole mess on catholicism.

Not all, are you really trying to tell me the catholic church looked favourably on single mothers and sex outside of marriage and that in the past Irish society had a healthy attitude to sex?

wes

DTrotter wrote: »

No, the women would care about the public perception (why were some single mothers shipped off to institutions and remember the Myers article recently) which would be influenced by the church, celibate men no less. Of course people have abortions for various other reasons.

I get that they would care about people perceptions, but considering the Church's view on abortion, I am going to go out on a limb here and say that would carry a far greater stigma if found out.

Sir Gallagher

That's absolutely sickening, just makes me feel sad really.

Guy:Incognito

netwhizkid wrote: »

yet I have had several partners,

No you havnt. Lieing makes baby Jesus cry

DTrotter

wes wrote: »

I get that they would care about people perceptions, but considering the Church's view on abortion, I am going to go out on a limb here and say that would carry a far greater stigma if found out.

Not to open a can of worms but what was the churches offical view on child abuse?
Too much sweeping stuff under the carpet in Ireland, as long as everything looked good on the outside.
Women have abortions for various reasons; rape, health, feeling they wouldn't able to provide for the child, birth control and I truly believe the stigma of being a single unmarried mother was one.

Morlar

DTrotter wrote: »

Not all, are you really trying to tell me the catholic church looked favourably on single mothers and sex outside of marriage and that in the past Irish society had a healthy attitude to sex?

Obviously they do not approve of pre-marital sex, they also dissaprove of abortions.

Now you can answer my question - Considering the church teachings how is this womans actions in both regards the fault of catholicism ?

If her actions are based out of a fear of public perception /what her neighbours would say or think well then I would say her values are completely distorted and have nothing to do with actual faith or religion and more with the appearance of same/vanity. In this particular case she was mentally unbalanced as far as I can see. Catholicism did not make her do this.

sam34

wes wrote: »

I get that they would care about people perceptions, but considering the Church's view on abortion, I am going to go out on a limb here and say that would carry a far greater stigma if found out.

yes -and here's the point- abortions are rarely found out, they are often kept as guilty secrets.

whereas it's much harder to conceal a child.

so therefore, by continuing with a pregnancy and child-rearing, a single woman would be open to much more shame and criticism than if she had had an abortion.

~me~

i was a catholic (albeit not a very good one!) and went to mass almost every sunday right up until my 'out of wedlock' child was born and i have to say i was treated really well not only by people who went to church but also the priest and helpers. so i dont think its really an issue these days within most churches. i was only a teenager as well so its not like they assumed i was married or whatever.
then i realised i was honestly only a catholic as a result of indoctrination (sp?) and did some research and i now find the religion controlling and hypocritical so im an atheist, but my point was not everyone in the church is against single mothers even though its against the religion. and not all single mothers feel as if they'll be banished by the church if they fall pregnant.

wes

DTrotter wrote: »

Not to open a can of worms but what was the churches offical view on child abuse?

I assume they were against it.

However, there crime was protecting those responsible. Which is something they are clearly guilty of and are rightly condemned for.

DTrotter wrote: »

Too much sweeping stuff under the carpet in Ireland, as long as everything looked good on the outside.
Women have abortions for various reasons; rape, health, feeling they wouldn't able to provide for the child, birth control and I truly believe the stigma of being a single unmarried mother was one.

Unlike the child abuse, the church has feck all to do with abortions, nor did they hide them or help provide them. In fact they would probably physically stop them if they could get away with it.

Sorry, I don't buy your reasoning. Its a huge stretch to blame the Catholic church on abortions.