The woman pleaded guilty in November to concealing the dead body of a child - which carries a maximum sentence of two years’ imprisonment - on the morning of August 4, 2021, the day she gave birth.
Court documents state she had been brought to the South Auckland hospital by her parents at 5.20am that day due to severe stomach pain and vaginal bleeding.
At some point between then and 7.40am, she gave birth inside a bathroom adjoining her room, placed the child in the bin, cleaned up the area and returned to her room.
A post-mortem exam of the child suggested he had a gestational age of 33 to 34 weeks, which would have made the birth premature. His lungs indicated he was alive at birth. They also showed evidence of extensive congenital pneumonia, but that was unlikely to have been fatal had the baby received medical intervention.
“It is unknown how long the baby survived post-delivery, or indeed whether he had passed away immediately after birth,” court documents state. “The cause of death remains unknown.”
There is no evidence, authorities have said, that the defendant or her parents knew she had been pregnant. The woman did not appear to be markedly pregnant when she arrived at hospital, the judge noted today.
A cleaner found the child’s body at 9am, about an hour after the defendant had been moved to another room.
When confronted, the woman denied that she had been pregnant and insisted she was not sexually active. A DNA test confirmed the child was hers, but she continued to insist to police that the baby couldn’t have been hers and that she had no memory of giving birth.
She spent about a year in psychiatric care before the criminal charge was filed against her.
The defendant was diagnosed with having suffered “dissociative amnesia”, possibly triggered by a traumatic event associated with conception.
“Her offending is clearly born out of trauma,” her lawyer, Emma Priest, told the judge today. “She was a victim before she was an offender.”
Priest pointed to a report by forensic neuropsychologist Sabine Visser in which concern was raised that the defendant might have a rapid, traumatic return of her memory if her name is published. Having the memory flood back in an overwhelming manner rather than in a controlled environment such as therapy could have an adverse effect on her mental health and put her in danger of self-harm, the neuropsychologist found.
But even if the woman received permanent name suppression, she would still potentially have to reveal a conviction to employers when applying for jobs, Priest noted as she argued for a discharge without conviction.
“The conviction will point a black mark on her reputation,” Priest said.
Crown prosecutor Freddy Faull acknowledged the woman’s diagnosis was unusual, “and does bring with it unique challenges”. As such, he said, the Crown remained neutral on the woman’s application for permanent name suppression.
But a discharge without conviction isn’t fitting of the gravity of the situation, he argued.
The judge agreed. While the circumstances of the case result in the woman having a “low culpability”, he described as “offensive” the defence’s repeated assertion that the woman’s culpability was “negligible”.
There are “inherently concerning elements” of any case involving the death of a child, Bonnar said.
“A life has been lost,” he said. “Why it has been lost we will never know.”
The judge also expressed concerns that the woman wishes to work in the health sector given her “unresolved and ongoing” mental health issues.
“Concealing this offence from employers in the health sector may cause additional risks and may be unfair to those employers,” he said.
The judge said he had “a huge degree of sympathy” for the woman but what would help her most would be concealing her identity rather than avoiding conviction.
WHERE TO GET HELP:
If you are worried about your or someone else’s mental health, the best place to get help is your GP or local mental health provider. However, if you or someone else is in danger or endangering others, call the police immediately on 111.
OR IF YOU NEED TO TALK TO SOMEONE ELSE:
