woman force fed her baby to death :(

[Jodie.82]

this woman is from my hometown, why would anyone force feed their baby
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-15689864

 

[Blah11]

Wow thats shocking and really random Poor baby

 

[JackiePed]

.....really......bizarre.
And horribly sad.

 

[Lightworker]

Permission to speak freely....

Before I even opened the link, I instinctively knew this lady was going to be African (I am african btw). It is not atypical for us to have pre-occupations with how much food our children are getting.

Coming from a continent where food is in short supply, and there's lots of starvation going on, a chubby, plump child is the symbol of good health, and good parenting in general. I have met many ladies who would wean from the age of even 2 months onwards, as they are hoping to "fatten" the baby up. Chubby babies are doted on and naturally slim babies tend to be viewed as having something wrong with them. Lots of mothers put their children's systems under such great pressure due to early weaning and overfeeding.

Even as I was growing up, we were served huge portions of food, and the same for my DH as well. It is only now that I have learnt portion control and what I used to eat was sufficient for 2 adults, let alone a child.

In a continent where food (bizarrely) is scarce, people make the most of it there's a huge starvation mentality going on and it needs addressing. Also, fatness is a sign of wealth. In fact, many rich men deliberately fatten up their wives to symbolize their wealth and status.

Sorry for going OT here, but I am not surprised that it happened. This is obviously not an indictment of every African parent, in fact, my experience could well be in the minority overall, but it is perhaps a contributory factor. x

 

[alaskagrown]

Permission to speak freely....

Before I even opened the link, I instinctively knew this lady was going to be African (I am african btw). It is not atypical for us to have pre-occupations with how much food our children are getting.

Coming from a continent where food is in short supply, and there's lots of starvation going on, a chubby, plump child is the symbol of good health, and good parenting in general. I have met many ladies who would wean from the age of even 2 months onwards, as they are hoping to "fatten" the baby up. Chubby babies are doted on and naturally slim babies tend to be viewed as having something wrong with them. Lots of mothers put their children's systems under such great pressure due to early weaning and overfeeding.

Even as I was growing up, we were served huge portions of food, and the same for my DH as well. It is only now that I have learnt portion control and what I used to eat was sufficient for 2 adults, let alone a child.

In a continent where food (bizarrely) is scarce, people make the most of it there's a huge starvation mentality going on and it needs addressing. Also, fatness is a sign of wealth. In fact, many rich men deliberately fatten up their wives to symbolize their wealth and status.

Sorry for going OT here, but I am not surprised that it happened. This is obviously not an indictment of every African parent, in fact, my experience could well be in the minority overall, but it is perhaps a contributory factor. x

I was going to mention how I saw this show on Discovery about mothers force-feeding their daughters in Africa because the fatter a woman is, the more beautiful they are.
It's sad, however, that the child passed away

 

[Blah11]

This women lived in Britain though and she was a nurse ffs. She should know better. No cultural excuses are good enough clearly. IDK theres a difference between serving large portions for a chubby baby and force feeding liquidised meat and carbs via a jug spout so she couldnt refuse to a baby. Horrid. The baby would have been obviously choking and coughing for her to have aspirated it.

 

[Lightworker]

This women lived in Britain though and she was a nurse ffs. She should know better. No cultural excuses are good enough clearly. IDK theres a difference between serving large portions for a chubby baby and force feeding liquidised meat and carbs via a jug spout so she couldnt refuse to a baby. Horrid. The baby would have been obviously choking and coughing for her to have aspirated it.

Totally, and I don't excuse her behaviour at all, it was awful and indeed she should have known better. Saying that though, I think sometimes we under-estimate the levels at which our cultural beliefs are deeply ingrained in us. Its not as simple as moving location for you to automatically forget certain behaviours. x

 

[KittyVentura]

Permission to speak freely....

Before I even opened the link, I instinctively knew this lady was going to be African (I am african btw). It is not atypical for us to have pre-occupations with how much food our children are getting.

Coming from a continent where food is in short supply, and there's lots of starvation going on, a chubby, plump child is the symbol of good health, and good parenting in general. I have met many ladies who would wean from the age of even 2 months onwards, as they are hoping to "fatten" the baby up. Chubby babies are doted on and naturally slim babies tend to be viewed as having something wrong with them. Lots of mothers put their children's systems under such great pressure due to early weaning and overfeeding.

Even as I was growing up, we were served huge portions of food, and the same for my DH as well. It is only now that I have learnt portion control and what I used to eat was sufficient for 2 adults, let alone a child.

In a continent where food (bizarrely) is scarce, people make the most of it there's a huge starvation mentality going on and it needs addressing. Also, fatness is a sign of wealth. In fact, many rich men deliberately fatten up their wives to symbolize their wealth and status.

Sorry for going OT here, but I am not surprised that it happened. This is obviously not an indictment of every African parent, in fact, my experience could well be in the minority overall, but it is perhaps a contributory factor. x

I was going to mention how I saw this show on Discovery about mothers force-feeding their daughters in Africa because the fatter a woman is, the more beautiful they are.
It's sad, however, that the child passed away

Well then I would be beautiful in Africa

Seriously though this is a very sad story. The woman was, in my opinion, misguided and weaned how SHE had been weaned and advised to wean from her parents.

It shows how damaging bad "grandmother" advice can be.

I do not believe she intended to hurt her child. Far from it. So to have her child die is more than punishment enough for her mistake. She does not deserve to be given a jail sentence as well.

JMO xx

 

[Blah11]

I disagree kitty. She subjected her child to being choked and stuffed everyday Its child abuse.

 

[KittyVentura]

But I don't think she knew or thought she was abusing.

Like parents subject their children to sleep training methods like CIO... often because they believe it is right/best etc. If a child was found to have had a seizure and died from being left to cry so long... that mother could find herself in this position too... but wouldn't have intended to cause harm xx

 

[alaskagrown]

Sort of reminds me of that baby that starved to death because the parents were feeding it a vegan diet.

 

[Blah11]

Shes a nurse. She knows what aspiration looks and sounds like. There's no mistaking it If your kid is choking and gasping for air, you don't do it again. End of really

 

[Nibblenic]

Im with Blah, there is really no excuse. No matter what you know that forcing your child or infact any living this to eat is wrong.

 

[AirForceWife7]

How can someone even do such a thing? And the fact that she was a nurse just blows it even more out of the water.

Poor, poor LO

 

[JASMAK]

As IF she didn't know what she was doing!!! She was an educated NURSE for crying out loud..just another sick f*ck in this messed up world.

 

[smelly07]

I am 100% with BLAH on this one, what she did was child abuse, she lived in this country... she is a nurse so would know the dangers and health problems this could cause and also how can any mother watch their child suffer that way........the poor baby.........and i personally think she was using her culture as an excuse! x

 

[Jodie.82]

totally agree with blah. I understand culture pressure or things that have been installed in you from a young age but as a mother and nurse when she actually did it she would have seen and known it was wrong? the child would have been in a right state. makes my blood boil!!

 

[MummyMEE]

She had 3 other kids and was warned previous to this child that force feeding the babies was dangerous but she did it with all of them!!! And she was a trained nurse...... sheeesh, I have no words......

 

[BlackBerry25]

Yeah, you can't say "Oh she didn't know"

People could use that excuse for anything. In cases like this, you have to think about the innocent victim. Dead because of someone being an idiot. Horrible.

 

[Yammas]

Oh I thought that this was her first well really it serves her right for not listening when people warned her but really you'd think that a medicallly trained professional would no better???