Read on to find out how a mother’s exhaustion indirectly caused the deaths of her 2 young children.
Facing sleep deprivation is something that every new mum can emphatise with and it is perfectly normal to feel like a walking zombie during the initial stages of parenting. Unfortunately for one sleep-deprived mum in Australia, the effects of sleep deprivation had serious consequences for her. ‘Serious’ would probably be an understatement as the sleep-deprived mum’s exhaustion indirectly led to the death of her two young children.
Tragic consequences of being a sleep-deprived mum
Miranda Hebble, was a 22-year old Australian woman living in Perth blessed with 2 young sons, 2-year old Lochlan and 10-month old Malachi Stevens. Miranda was responsible for taking care of her 2 young children as the father, Christopher Stevens was working on a ‘fly-in-fly-out’ basis. However, the stress of taking care of 2 young boys eventually took a toll on Miranda leaving her feeling absolutely exhausted on one seemingly ordinary day in November 2008. She left her 2 young boys in the steam-filled bathroom to fetch something but the sleep deprived mum ended up dozing off for 10 hours. When she woke up, it was too late.
Miranda Hebble and 10-month old Malachi Stevens
When she returned to the bathroom after her accidental 10-hour long nap, she was greeted wit a heart wrenching scene. Lochlan had blood oozing from his mouth and he was lying flat on the floor. His baby brother, Malachi was floating in the shower with bruises covering his cheek. Ms Hebble reportedly informed an emergency services operator: ‘I passed out and the plug in the shower got plugged up … and the shower filled up … and they’re not breathing. They’re dead.’ The 2 young boys were declared dead the next morning at 2am. Miranda has since separated from the boy’s father, Christopher Stevens.
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Irresponsible mum or just a fatal accident
The father of the two boys
Although Miranda was quite young, she seemed like an ordinary mother. A very recent inquest into the death of the 2 boys was told that Miranda never had any issues with drug or alcohol abuse and she was also mentally healthy. The inquest was also informed about a seperate incident where Miranda reportedly left Malachi alone in a car for awhile to go visit a shop. Luckily at that time, crying, hot and red-faced Malachi was rescued from the car by police officers. Miranda too cited exhaustion as an excuse for her careless actions during that incident. Is Miranda simply an irresponsible mother or could her accident have happened to any other mother as well?
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Tips for sleep deprived mums
Regardless of the verdict, sleep-deprivation is a major problem which every new parent has to deal with. As seen by this case, the consequences of exhaustion can be extremely serious. Check out these 3 tips which just might help you win the battle against sleep deprivation.
1. Sleep whenever your baby sleeps.
The best advice would be to sleep whenever your baby sleeps. Do not be tempted by the idea that you should try to do some chores while your baby is asleep as these chores can be left till later.
2. Split up the workload
Caring for a baby is tiresome and some extra hands will definitely come in handy. Take turns with your spouse or close friends or relatives in caring for your baby so both of you get the rest you need.
3. Do not give up
Keep in mind that things will get better. Most importantly, watching your baby grow up will make all the hard work worth it in the end.
RELATED: More tips for sleep-deprived mums
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