Mr. Liu was busy preparing preparing a meal in his Hangzhou apartment in the Zhejiang province in China when out of nowhere he heard a loud noise. Outside, he saw that a plastic bag with unknown contents had fallen.
He didn’t pay much attention to it until other residents stumbled upon it and saw a lifeless baby inside.
Newborn put inside plastic bag
“The unclothed baby was covered in blood and its umbilical cord was not even completely removed. The sound was the tied plastic bag bursting as it hit the ground,” said a report by the Epoch Times.
Reports did not disclose the gender of the baby, or the exact date it was born. However, Mr. Liu said, “The baby must have been born today or yesterday.”
The infant’s mother was identified as a woman named “Fang.” Neighbours said that although she had been married for a few years, she was allegedly seeing another man.
READ: Coping with postnatal depression—what you need to know
“Furthermore, the Zhejiang’s Xinhua Hospital said that Fang received emergency care on March 18 and was accompanied by a man,” said the same report.
“The doctor found the remains of a placenta as well as blood in her uterus, and declined to answer when asked if she had recently given birth. On the day of the incident, Fang had been absent from the hospital, where she was staying, then returned later in the day without any notification.”
Post partum psychiatric illness
It’s not uncommon for mothers suffering from a postpartum psychiatric illness to feel as though they don’t want their newborn. In fact a similar case had happened a weeks back in Malaysia where a distraught mother threw her newborn child outside the window.
Here’s some useful information on the different categories of postpartum psychiatric illnesses:
Postpartum blues or “the baby blues”
Typical symptoms: Tearfulness Irritability Anxiety Mood fluctuations. These symptoms peak in the first week and improve gradually, says Dr Zachariah.
Postnatal Depression
Typical symptoms: Feelings of persistent sadness and irritability, anxiety, lack of interest, negative thoughts, insomnia, changes in appetite, inability to care for herself Doubt or concerns regarding caring for her baby
Postnatal Psychosis (puerperal psychosis)
Typical symptoms: Confusion, disorientation, irritability, mood swings, insomnia, irrational, and delusional thoughts. Sometimes, mothers with this condition may believe that the child does not belong to her and is evil.
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