Children made ill, Crown alleges

An Auckland mother allegedly abused her two children by intentionally making them ill so they would have to undergo invasive medical treatment, a court has heard.

The Crown alleges she suffocated her newborn son, then recorded him while he struggled to breathe, and made her son and daughter swallow a battery and a coin.

She also allegedly overdosed them on prescription medication.

The woman, who has name suppression, is on trial at the High Court in Auckland facing nine charges of child abuse.

Crown prosecutor Melissa Hammer opened the case on Monday by telling the jury that the woman had intentionally harmed her young children.

Between January 2011 and October 2015, the woman took her daughter to hospital, A&E clinics, and GPS more than 100 times for various ailments.

At one point in 2013, the woman took her daughter to hospital saying she was suffering from seizures.

‘‘She was monitored in the ward for a number of days. While staying in the ward the defendant reported sudden collapse and head hitting [in her daughter]. These were not witnessed by staff.’’

After medical experts were unable to diagnose the young girl, the woman began overdosing her child on medication, Hammer said.

That allegedly caused ataxia, a condition when a person loses control of their limbs.

One another occasion, she made her daughter swallow a coin so she would have to be taken to hospital, Hammer said.

When her son was born, she began abusing him too, the Crown alleged.

Less than 48 hours after she gave birth to the boy, he was admitted to hospital and was found to be hypoglycemic.

This was caused by not being kept warm by his mother, Hammer said.

Police were alerted to the woman’s alleged abuse in October 2015, when she called emergency services after her son stopped breathing.

The Crown alleged the woman intentionally suffocated the boy and then made a video of him turning blue.

The boy was admitted to hospital, and discharged 10 days later.

A police investigation was launched, and the children were removed from the woman’s care.

However, while she was on a supervised visit to see her children, the Crown alleged she made her young son swallow a button battery.

Medical professionals monitored the young boy and the button passed through him without any damage.

Both children were largely healthy now they had been removed from their mother’s care, Hammer said.

The jury was told by Hammer to disregard Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a mental health disorder which causes the sufferer to make up or cause the illness of someone in their care.

Defence lawyer Susan Gray said the woman suffered from anxiety and never intentionally harmed her children.