Poor Baby!

Re: Poor Baby!

How in the world was someone who was admitted into the hospital for hearing voices with a long past history of schzophrenia able to check themselves out? I thought the law said "danger to yourself and others". I would put personal communication with the Devil right down in the ole "danger to herself and others" colum. They need to investigate the hospital who let her go when she was like that.

I am so very sorry for the baby and the family. I know it must be really hard to say to yourself that you have a family member who has slipped over the edge and needs in patient mental health care, but there comes a time when the words need to be said and actions taken. This is far, far from the range of normal postpartum. Also, the article never says if she was being treated for her PPD and schzophrenia or if she was taking her medication.

As a person who suffered from PPD twice, my dr's kept a very close eye on me and I went into the hospital the second time around with antid's. I started my medication the day after my second baby was born. I wonder why she was not on meds or being monitored more closely. Then again, until a person does something threatening, there is nothing you can do. Believe me, I have checked. She could have insisted and refused to get the care she needed and the law respects a person's right to be as legally crazy as they want to until they break the law. However, in this case, with her past history, I do feel the hospital had an obligation to detain her for at least 24 hours of observation.

Re: Poor Baby!

Here's more on this story:

Warning signs missed in baby dismemberment case
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090729/...decapitated_32

Sounds like the baby daddy was a real hum dinger (as my grandma used to say) himself:

Now, isn't he the pot calling the kettle black? Sounds like he is just as messed up as she is.

Re: Poor Baby!

I don't disagree with you on her being very mentally ill and not getting the help she needed. He's a humdinger because he doesn't seem to have an ounce of compassion for her and he has the same disease she has. He, of all people, should have understood and stepped in.

Good grief, a woman comes into a hospital hallucinating and talking to the devil, and that's not reason to keep her for awhile to make sure she is okay?

It just seems like a lot of things had to go wrong for this baby to die. This poor baby wasn't dealt a very good hand. Mom and Dad mentally ill. Family tries to step in, but that doesn't seem to help. Mom was better off with Dad than them - at least she was more stable with him. The dr didn't seem to follow up on her care. The hospital let her go knowing how sick she was.

Actually, outside the mother who is soley responsible for what she did, mentally ill or not, I am concered that health care system did not keep up with her. This could happen again. We really need to look into fixing the system that broke for this to occur. Pregnant women need to spend more the five minutes with a different dr every appointment. The dr needs to really get to know his or her patients so the patient feels comfortable saying they have a history of mental illness or any other illness. He or she needs to know the patient well enough to know what a baseline is for this person and when the person has crossed over into needing medication and other help.

I had the same dr for 8 months with Cara and he never remembered anything about me. He never glanced at my chart before he came in to talk with me for a whole five minutes each appointment. I have heard so many women here say they got a different dr every time or their dr didn't listen to them. I know my dr did not listen to me. When I told him of all the complications I had in the past, he just blew me off. He didn't even want to see my old medical records. I thank my lucky stars that I was forced to get another dr for the last month of my second pregnancy, because she did listen to me and I don't think my dd and I would be alive with the other guy.

I got help with my PPD through the VA. They are the ones who tracked my mental health throughout the pregnancy. They are the ones who sent me to the hospital with meds to start taking immediately. They are the ones who had me come in for a two and a four week follow up just to check on my PPD.

Medicaid runs out for the mother four to six weeks after the baby is born. Antid's are expensive. The mother may not be able to afford the medication she needs. Sometimes it takes awhile for these meds to work. The mother needs follow up care - not just a check up six weeks later, but check ups at two and four weeks to make sure she's okay. I think medical coverage for the mom should be extended to the first year of the baby's life so she can afford any medication or counseling she may need.

Drs need to be trained how to recognize the signs of PPD, how to communicate with ppd mothers and how to help them find other the help they might need. At least in my state, there are a number of programs to help new moms. Unfortunately, they are income based which they shouldn't be. No one wants a middle or upper income mother getting into the state this mother did either. Just because someone is insured doesn't mean they have good insurance or that their insurance pays an adequate amount so they feel free to go to the dr when they need to or even pays for medication at an afforable rate.