Baby is second kid to die under mum's care

[MarrickG]

He is one of the woman’s two kids who have died under her care

A MOTHER of four children – two of whom died under her care in the last two years – has been appearing before a coroner’s court over the last few months to explain one of the deaths.

The second of her four children, a three-month-old boy, died of pneumonia on March 30 two years ago, following a fall that led to a head injury. The circumstances of the death resulted in a corner’s inquiry, which ended yesterday.

The death of her third child, a baby girl, who died last year, is also before the coroner’s court.

Inquests are held when deaths occur under unnatural circumstances such as accidents, or when they could be caused by negligence.

Yesterday, on the final day of the inquiry into the death of the baby boy, State Coroner Victor Yeo said he will give his verdict on Tuesday.

The mother, a 29-year-old tutor who gave birth to her fourth child earlier this month, was absent.

The parents and the children cannot be named to protect the children’s identities.

During the course of the inquest, which began several months ago, the court heard that she was carrying the boy close to her chest while walking along a covered walkway in Woodlands on March 28, 2008.

She testified that she dropped the infant after a cyclist riding past her had startled her.

She was unable to say exactly how the baby fell, but she told the court that she recalled picking him up from the concrete pavement.

However, she and her husband did not call for medical help until the next evening, when they found the baby unconscious.

They tried to revive him by pinching him and slapping his body, and when that failed, they decided to call for an ambulance.

The baby was taken to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, where he died around midnight.

Yesterday, senior consultant forensic pathologist Paul Chui, who conducted the autopsy on the boy on March 30, 2008, said the injury sustained by the boy was unlikely to have led to his death.

He found that there was internal bleeding on the surface of the brain.

The injury, which was on the right side of the brain, suggested that there was “blunt force trauma” to the head, he said.

But he added that had medical attention been sought, it was probable that the infant could have recovered from the chest infection, which came about because of the head injury sustained.

Dr Chiu said that since the injury did not appear to be terribly severe, one would expect a good recovery.

He did not find any fractures on the body and told the court that the internal bleeding was not severe enough to lead directly to the boy’s death.

Dr Chui added that the autopsy results showed other injuries which the boy suffered – bruises on his left forearm and thigh. Both were non-specific in nature and small, and would not cause death.

These were a few days old and were not related to the fall – which suggested that he could have got them elsewhere.

According to recent medical literature, death resulting from a low-impact fall, such as the one the boy had, was extremely rare, he added.

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