‘I held baby in my arms then placed her in a bin’

A YOUNG woman accused of the manslaughter of her newborn baby told gardaí that she held the infant in her arms for around ten minutes before placing her in a bin in a medical centre, a court has heard.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded not guilty when arraigned last week to charges of manslaughter and child neglect in 2018 at Caredoc in Waterford.

The trial at Waterford Circuit Criminal Court heard yesterday that the woman was arrested and detained at Waterford Garda Station for interview by Inspector Donal Donohoe and Detective Garda Siobhán Keating in August 2018. The woman told gardaí during the interview that she gave birth in a toilet and thought her baby was stillborn. Asked if the baby squealed or cried, she said ‘nothing’.

She picked her up to determine her sex and turned her over to help remove some blood from her mouth, the mother explained.

When asked what she was thinking when holding her, she said: ‘How beautiful she was. I was looking for movement. I wanted her to cry… I wanted help, but I didn’t ask.’

She said she felt like she had let her baby down completely and was selfish. When asked if her baby was breathing, she said she didn’t hear her. She said she held her baby in her arms for about ten minutes to ‘see if there was anything, but no, there was nothing’.

She said she wanted to bring her home but panicked when she couldn’t hear her breathe.

Asked why she didn’t seek help, she said: ‘Because I didn’t want it. I never needed help. I have always done everything by myself.’

The mother said that after a certain point in the pregnancy there was no more movement and therefore thought it was too late.

When asked what triggered her to put the baby in the bin, she said: ‘I honestly don’t know.’

She described how she opened the lid of the bin and placed her inside without wrapping her.

Details of the postmortem showed the cause of death as being inattention at birth. Asked why she didn’t say anything at the hospital or when gardaí became involved, she said: ‘I just didn’t want to believe that I had her.’ During a second interview with gardaí she explained that she had accepted that she was pregnant some months before giving birth but didn’t say anything or get

‘Didn’t want to believe I had her’

medical attention.

She said she was in denial about giving birth, and denied that the baby was hers for nine hours after she was found inside the bin.

Ciarán O’Loughlin SC, for the defence, pointed out to Insp Donohoe that comments made by the defendant were in hindsight and didn’t quantify that she knew that the baby was alive on the date in question. The baby’s father offered the mother money for a pregnancy test and a doctor’s appointment when she told him of the pregnancy, the court heard.

Mr O’Loughlin said that it was obvious to everyone except the woman that she was pregnant.

The case continues.