MUM OF BABY IN CAR BOOT ‘HID PREGNANCY’

Woman who had stillbirth on her own ‘thought she had miscarried’

A YOUNG mother whose baby was found dead in the boot of a car had concealed the pregnancy from her family and friends in recent months, the Irish Daily Mail has learned.

The woman, from Birr, Co. Offaly, is understood to have thought the child had died early in the pregnancy, which is why she did not tell family and friends about it.

The baby’s death only came to light after the mother – understood to be in her early 20s – attended Tullamore Regional Hospital for treatment in the aftermath of the pregnancy due to medical complications. It’s understood the

young woman may have been bleeding and was rushed to hospital from the family home.

The mother of the stillborn infant is from a ‘well-known’ family in the area.

The Irish Daily Mail understands that the stillborn child was delivered in a car near the family home in Birr on March 29.

The woman was said to have been left traumatised by events as she gave birth to the child alone.

The baby was wrapped in a jumper and placed in the boot of a car at the family home, where its remains lay undiscovered for a number of days.

It was when the mother attended hospital that doctors discovered she had given birth to a child a few days earlier and alerted gardaí.

Gardaí interviewed the young woman at Tullamore Regional Hospital and she told them where to find the dead infant.

The child’s body was discovered in the boot of a car by gardaí and was taken to the Midland Regional Hospital in Tullamore, Co. Offaly, where a postmortem was carried out on April 1.

Security sources confirmed to the Mail that gardaí had investigated the sudden death

‘Baby died of natural causes’

of a baby in the locality in recent weeks.

‘A baby died of natural causes in the area in recent weeks,’ a source confirmed.

‘The child was born to a local woman but sadly the child was a stillborn.

‘The young mother in question became frightened following the birth and hid the child as nobody had known she was pregnant.

‘It’s an extremely sad case to think that a young woman felt she needed to conceal the pregnancy.

‘We are not in the days of Ann Lovett, but sadly, this somehow managed to happen,’ said a senior security source.

Ann Lovett was a 15-yearold girl who died tragically giving birth in secret to a baby boy beside a grotto in Co. Longford in 1984. Her infant also died.

Yesterday, in Birr, locals expressed their ‘deep shock’ upon hearing the news that the baby had died.

A local businesswoman, who did not wish to be identified, told the Mail that her heart went out to the young mother.

‘I heard the story on the local radio this morning and it gave me a fright. It’s a dreadfully sad case and in this day and age, no young woman should feel she needs to hide a pregnancy – your heart would go out to her as she obviously was alone and very scared,’ she said.

‘My hope is that she gets the assistance she needs following such a sad event.’

Other locals were critical of the fact that the pregnancy was brought to the attention of the media in the first place.

Describing it as a ‘private family matter’, a local man said: ‘It’s nobody’s business.’

Gardaí have confirmed that the child died of natural causes and that ‘no foul play’ was suspected.

The infant is understood to have been buried last week in the locality.

A priest in the area who also did not wish to be named said that it was a great tragedy for the area.

‘Cases like this are very sad but they are matters for the young woman and her family. I do find it sad for the area, as I only read a piece about it,’ he said.

‘I thought we had moved on as a country from events where pregnancies need to be hidden away,’ said the priest.