Irish backpacker in Australia charged with death of her baby

ibarelycare

Edit: After reading further articles, the title of this thread should be "Irish backpacker in Australia charged with CONCEALING death of her baby"


Link

A 25-YEAR-OLD IRISH woman has been charged with concealing the death of a newborn baby by Australian police.

The 25-year-old is said to have given birth at home alone in the Australian outback town of Halls Creek in May.

Western Australian police told ABC News that the woman had been travelling through the Kimberly region and did not realise she had fallen pregnant.
It is alleged that she hid the baby’s body and did not tell her friends what had happened for several days.

When her friends found out, they brought her to a hospital, where police were informed.

Although it sounds dubious, it's not that uncommon to hear about women who don't realise they're pregnant until they go into labour. I can't imagine what mental state the girl must have been in, all of a sudden she starts giving birth to a baby while she's home alone. Why didn't she try and get help? And then she carried on for days as normal without telling her friends. Such a sad story for all involved

MagicIRL

Forgive my ignorance... but how do you not know you're pregnant before labour? Doesn't the baby kick you, and you get sick... and the food binges... and ya'know... the huge baby inside you?

ibarelycare

MagicIRL wrote: »

Forgive my ignorance... but how do you not know you're pregnant before labour? Doesn't the baby kick you, and you get sick... and the food binges... and ya'know... the huge baby inside you?

It's very possible, there's an article on it here

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jena-pincott/pregnant-without-knowing-it_b_1078776.html

old_aussie

If they find the body and it can be proved that the baby was alive when abandoned she should be charged with murder.

Grayson

MagicIRL wrote: »

Forgive my ignorance... but how do you not know you're pregnant before labour? Doesn't the baby kick you, and you get sick... and the food binges... and ya'know... the huge baby inside you?

Most of the time stuff happens and people think it's something else.

My lung collapsed. it was intensely painful. I thought it was really bad indigestion from being on the piss the night beforehand. I took a rennie. And despite what that story might tell you, I'm not actually that stupid. I just have a history of stomach pain.

My mother was a midwife and had plenty of stories about girls like this. It's not uncommon especially in larger girls where the weight gain isn't considered unusual. All the rest of the signs are masked as something else. Morning sickness is a stomach bug for example. And women can even continue to menstruate when pregnant.

ibarelycare

old_aussie wrote: »

If they find the body and it can be proved that the baby was alive when abandoned she should be charged with murder.

The charge only holds a 2 year maximum sentence. But I think that charge is just for not reporting the birth of a baby. I'm sure as things develop there will be a call for a murder charge.

Czarcasm

old_aussie wrote: »

If they find the body and it can be proved that the baby was alive when abandoned she should be charged with murder.

The baby was stillborn -

Some in the community where the woman was hospitalised expressed surprise she had been charged because of the experience of giving birth to a stillborn child in a foreign country.

Source: ABC News

Tokyo

MagicIRL wrote: »

Forgive my ignorance... but how do you not know you're pregnant before labour? Doesn't the baby kick you, and you get sick... and the food binges... and ya'know... the huge baby inside you?

There have been a number of cases of women who haven't realised that they were pregnant until they gave birth in the bathroom or similar (usually quite large ladies who wrote it off to weight gain or similar), but it's also quite possible that the girl in question was in complete denial to herself about being pregnant until she had no choice but to face the truth (i.e. she was in the middle of giving birth...)

Pablodreamsofnew

She needs help I think. Did they access her mental stage I wonder.

Wibbs

My grandmother didn't realise she was pregnant until she fainted in the street and was brought to hospital in the early stages of premature labour. Came as a shock all around. Even moreso as she was a thin woman and was the go to woman in the area for younger women who were pregnant so of all people you'd think she'd be more aware. She was in her mid forties so she thought she was suffering from symptoms of the menopause(or the "change" as they called it). It can happen.

Buona Fortuna

old_aussie wrote: »

If they find the body and it can be proved that the baby was alive when abandoned she should be charged with murder.

ibarelycare wrote: »

The charge only holds a 2 year maximum sentence. But I think that charge is just for not reporting the birth of a baby. I'm sure as things develop there will be a call for a murder charge.

Maybe, but I can't help thinking that whatever was going through this poor girl's mind, the last thing she needs is the judicial systems help.

Any key?

ibarelycare wrote: »

The charge only holds a 2 year maximum sentence. But I think that charge is just for not reporting the birth of a baby. I'm sure as things develop there will be a call for a murder charge.

Surely in this case though the reason can often be put down to sheer fear or panic i.e not reporting the birth.

In this case though the girl was 25, not like she was a scared 16 year old. Kind of difficult to understand especially if she was travelling with any friends.

stefan idiot jones

When my daughter was born I met a mate from my local at the hospital. His wife had just given birth and she knew sod all about being pregnant. They already had two children together, so it does really happen.

swimming in a sea

Halls Creek, just checked it on Google street view. It's some kinda place,

swimming in a sea

No offence and correct me if I'm wrong, but if a woman goes to 7-8-9 months without knowing they are pregnant they must be fat.

Wibbs

swimming in a sea wrote: »

No offence and correct me if I'm wrong, but if a woman goes to 7-8-9 months without knowing they are pregnant they must be fat.

Not always. As I said above my grandmother was nowhere close to fat, she was considered a thin woman back in the days when most people were much thinner than today and she didn't spot it. She put on remarkably little weight. IIRC about a stone and because she was also a tall woman didn't think much of the extra weight.

Czarcasm

swimming in a sea wrote: »

No offence and correct me if I'm wrong, but if a woman goes to 7-8-9 months without knowing they are pregnant they must be fat.

Not necessarily. It doesn't mention her weight in any of the media reports on this case though so I couldn't say in this case whether you're right or wrong.

ibarelycare

Czarcasm wrote: »

The baby was stillborn -





Source: ABC News

That reveals a lot more. None of the reports I've read have mentioned the body of the baby, but I presume since it happened back in May and she has appeared in court, that the body of the baby was found and they were able to deduct that it was stillborn. If that is the case then there obviously there will be no murder charge. I hope the poor woman doesn't have to face prison over this. Imagine how traumatic the whole experience must have been.

Grayson

stefan idiot jones wrote: »

When my daughter was born I met a mate from my local at the hospital. His wife had just given birth and she knew sod all about being pregnant. They already had two children together, so it does really happen.

the human race reproduced for millennia without people knowing exactly how it was all done. reproducing is one of the few thing's that humans can do with no knowledge or training. (Not that's they'll be good parents, just that they'll be parents)

Tokyo

I wouldn't be overly concerned. It seems to be one of those points of law that gets trotted forward as part of the 'just in case' scenario. No doubt it will be decided that it's not in the public interest to press charges against the woman.

swimming in a sea

swimming in a sea wrote: »

No offence and correct me if I'm wrong, but if a woman goes to 7-8-9 months without knowing they are pregnant they must be fat.

The lead singer of Ham Sandwich gave birth not knowing she was even pregnant. She is not, and was not fat - quite slim in fact. She was on the cover of Hot Press magazine just weeks before and played a gig in London 4 days prior to giving birth!!!

http://www.independent.ie/woman/celeb-news/singers-joy-as-oscar-turns-up-unexpectedly-26456391.html

B0jangles

I can kind of understand how she reacted - to go from not knowing you are pregnant to suddenly going into labour and giving birth to a dead baby must be incredibly, unbelievably shocking. She might have literally not been able to mentally process what had happened for a few days and been just going around on auto-pilot.

Linka

swimming in a sea wrote: »

No offence and correct me if I'm wrong, but if a woman goes to 7-8-9 months without knowing they are pregnant they must be fat.

I'm sure you get the idea now, given that others have said it isn't always the case. Some women just carry very small, particularly so if they've a small frame themselves. If her periods are also irregular she could easily be none the wiser.

brooke 2

Any key? wrote: »

Surely in this case though the reason can often be put down to sheer fear or panic i.e not reporting the birth.

In this case though the girl was 25, not like she was a scared 16 year old. Kind of difficult to understand especially if she was travelling with any friends.

Giving birth on her own in the outback must have been a terrifying experience,
regardless of the age of the woman.

brooke 2

ibarelycare wrote: »

That reveals a lot more. None of the reports I've read have mentioned the body of the baby, but I presume since it happened back in May and she has appeared in court, that the body of the baby was found and they were able to deduct that it was stillborn. If that is the case then there obviously there will be no murder charge. I hope the poor woman doesn't have to face prison over this. Imagine how traumatic the whole experience must have been.

And she still has to face having her name plastered all over the media when she
appears in court in October.

brooke 2

mike_ie wrote: »

I wouldn't be overly concerned. It seems to be one of those points of law that gets trotted forward as part of the 'just in case' scenario. No doubt it will be decided that it's not in the public interest to press charges against the woman.

Let's hope so! The girl has suffered enough.

brooke 2

B0jangles wrote: »

I can kind of understand how she reacted - to go from not knowing you are pregnant to suddenly going into labour and giving birth to a dead baby must be incredibly, unbelievably shocking. She might have literally not been able to mentally process what had happened for a few days and been just going around on auto-pilot.

Childbirth can be a traumatic experience, even in a hospital environment, where
medics are on hand to help the woman. That poor girl must be suffering from
PTSD at this stage.

Grayson

B0jangles wrote: »

I can kind of understand how she reacted - to go from not knowing you are pregnant to suddenly going into labour and giving birth to a dead baby must be incredibly, unbelievably shocking. She might have literally not been able to mentally process what had happened for a few days and been just going around on auto-pilot.

That's horror film **** right there.

Neyite

God, she must have been terrified.

I was scared when I was giving birth, but I'd planned the pregnancy for years, knew I was pregnant from 4 weeks, had lots of antenatal appointments, haunted the pregnancy /parenting forum here and still when my waters broke and I went into the labour ward I was still scared and apprehensive, despite being surrounded by professionals skilled in delivering babies.

I cannot imagine the horror of realisation that you had been pregnant coming when you deliver a dead baby alone. I cant see how its anything other than PTSD that caused her to fail to report it to anyone.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Any key?

brooke 2 wrote: »

Giving birth on her own in the outback must have been a terrifying experience,
regardless of the age of the woman.

I didn't mean giving birth. I meant looking for help either during or afterwards?
Poor girl I guess it would be too hard to understand what thoughts were going through her mind anyway.

eviltwin

Poor girl. My first pregnancy was only discovered at 4 months. I had no symptoms and no bump until month 8 and that can be very common with a first baby especially in a young woman apparently. I really don't see why she would be sent to prison for this, the baby was stillborn. How awful for her.

brooke 2

Any key? wrote: »

I didn't mean giving birth. I meant looking for help either during or afterwards?
Poor girl I guess it would be too hard to understand what thoughts were going through her mind anyway.

I would imagine once she realised the horror of what was happening to her body, instinct took over. Not many thought processes involved in situations like that, I
would say.

OrangeVarnish

How sad for all, and her family in Ireland being so far from her.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Buona Fortuna

OrangeVarnish wrote: »

How sad for all, and her family in Ireland being so far from her.

I know, I've a neice out there. She's a smart "kid" but we'd be devasted if something like this happened to her - never mind her Mum and Dad.

Red Pepper

old_aussie wrote: »

If they find the body and it can be proved that the baby was alive when abandoned she should be charged with murder.

Stating the obvious?

Tokyo

It seems that the woman in question is being allowed to return home...

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/irish-woman-charged-with-hiding-birth-of-baby-in-australia-can-return-home-30505325.html

B0jangles

mike_ie wrote: »

It seems that the woman in question is being allowed to return home...

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/irish-woman-charged-with-hiding-birth-of-baby-in-australia-can-return-home-30505325.html

It's absolutely shocking that they are still planning on taking her to court considering the following statement:

Local magistrate wrote:

Chief Magistrate Steven Heath said the maximum penalty for the offence was a two-year jail term and delays until at least next year were likely.
Mr Heath said without trivialising the matter, nothing more serious was alleged than the concealing the birth.

Tokyo

I would imagine that they may just be going through the motions of due process. 5 minutes in the courtroom, long enough for someone to say "this girl's been through enough, case dismissed".

They may not even bother bringing her back for it - I doubt they'd be handing her back her passport and telling her to go home to be with ehr family if they felt that there was anything to worry about.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Egginacup

The baby was stillborn. This could mean that it died in the womb. It could have died after 5 or 6 months. There would have been no further growth so she wouldn't have displayed the belly, felt any kicks or needed to "eat for 2" so to speak. I read about a poor Afghan woman whose child died inside her and stayed that way for years. She was carrying around a completely calcified child in her womb.

I hope this backpacker girl isn't punished too harshly. Pregnant women are not in the normal frame of mind.

kylith

Any key? wrote: »

I didn't mean giving birth. I meant looking for help either during or afterwards?
Poor girl I guess it would be too hard to understand what thoughts were going through her mind anyway.

I guess that it was her mind's way of trying to protect her; if she didn't tell anyone then it wasn't real, it didn't happen, and her psyche could bury it.

Egginacup

old_aussie wrote: »

If they find the body and it can be proved that the baby was alive when abandoned she should be charged with murder.

Oh, boy. There's always one who can't get beyond their own desire for revenge, or punishment, or retribution. Empathy is just an alien concept.