Welcome, Guest: Register On Nairaland / LOGIN! / Trending / Recent / New
Stats: 3,143,427 members, 7,781,246 topics. Date: Friday, 29 March 2024 at 11:15 AM

African Woman In London Force Feeds Baby To Death! Sad! - Family - Nairaland

Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Family / African Woman In London Force Feeds Baby To Death! Sad! (2235 Views)

Mother Accuses Soldiers Of Stomping 20-month-old Baby To Death In Delta (pic) / 9-Year-Old Homeless Girl Feeds Feaces To Baby Of Lady That Rescued Her / British Mum Leaves Baby To Die During Sex Romp With A Nigerian(PIC) (2) (3) (4)

(1) (Reply) (Go Down)

African Woman In London Force Feeds Baby To Death! Sad! by tttn726: 12:37pm On Oct 13, 2011
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/12/mother-force-feeding-baby-death?newsfeed=true

Mother found guilty of force-feeding baby to death
Gloria Dwomoh, 31, a nurse from east London, was obsessed with weight of 10-month-old Diamond, court hears


reddit this
Caroline Davies
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 12 October 2011 17.19 BST
Article history

The Old Bailey where a mother was convicted over her baby's death. The child died from pneumonia caused by food in her lungs. Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian
A nurse who killed her baby daughter by force-feeding her using a method she claimed was common in her native Ghana is facing jail following a three-week trial.

Gloria Dwomoh, 31, admitted "cup feeding" by pouring liquidised food into the infant's mouth using a porcelain jug while weaning her, in what is believed to be the first case of its kind in the UK.

The 10-month-old baby, Diamond, contracted pneumonia caused by food – including meat and cereals – repeatedly entering her lungs as she coughed and choked during force-feeding over a period of months.

She died in March last year after being taken to hospital near to her home in Waltham Forest, east London.

Dwomoh, who worked at St Thomas's hospital, south London, had wept as she demonstrated to the jury how she used two small china jugs for feeding, as she was trying "to give her nutrients rather than milk". She told the court: "I didn't do anything at all to hurt her."

She and her siblings had been fed the same way by her mother in Ghana, she said. She denied causing or allowing the death of Diamond, but was unanimously convicted. A 37-year-old man, who cannot be identified, was acquitted of the same charge.

The pathologist who examined Diamond said he had "never seen so much food in the lungs of a dead child".

Describing it as a very sad case, the prosecutor Andrew Edis QC said the food had gone down the wrong way over months.

Dwomoh had placed the spout of the jug into the child's mouth "to prevent her closing it when she did not want any more – to prevent her having any choice".

He told the trial: "The mother, she is a nurse, and that involves a degree of extra insight." She was said to be obsessed with the baby's weight.

Dwomoh was remanded in custody for sentencing on 9 November as Judge Brian Barker QC described the case as "very disturbing on any view".

Social services had warned Dwomoh and the male defendant about force-feeding, but the advice was ignored. The man was said to have told police: "To feed the Ghanian way is to pour it into your mouth."

Laura Eades, chair of Waltham Forest Safeguarding Children's Board, expressed "deep regret and sadness" for Diamond's death, and said it was believed to be the first case of its kind in the country.

A serious case review "had found there were weaknesses and shortcomings" by some of those involved with the family, Eades said, but the review had concluded that the child's death was "not predictable".

She said: "Had best practice been followed, the risk to Diamond of force feeding would have been better recognised and the family would have been offered further support and intervention. This should have reduced the probability of Diamond being subject to behaviour that proved in this case to be fatal."

Among its findings, the serious case review said those dealing with the family were "insufficiently sensitive to obtaining an understanding of the significance of cultural and/or individual values with regard to weight, body image and feeding practices".

It also found communication problems may have arisen because of difficulties understanding the male defendant's English, and inexperience in dealing with force-feeding.

It also found that because the "maltreatment" was motivated by concern for a child's welfare, professional concerns were "mistakenly diluted" and there were significant shortcomings in the child protection inquiries by staff at an Islington hospital, Waltham Forest children's social care and the Metropolitan police service child abuse investigation team.
Re: African Woman In London Force Feeds Baby To Death! Sad! by Nobody: 12:47pm On Oct 13, 2011
Very sad indeed. Those who are staunch advocates of "The African Way" should pay particular heed. The fact we went through certain methods 300 years ago, and survived till today doesn't make it right.
Re: African Woman In London Force Feeds Baby To Death! Sad! by emofine(f): 1:04pm On Oct 13, 2011
oh my gosh and she was a nurse . . . that is so sad, poor baby sad
Re: African Woman In London Force Feeds Baby To Death! Sad! by ada24: 1:07pm On Oct 13, 2011
thank you siena - i had to email this story last night to all my friends with kids so that the next time someone tells me or them that I should stop treating my child like an oyinbo child after all "she is african" i will highlight this story to them.

imagine force feeding a baby - see me see trouble o! I don't know the last time my 9 month old had a proper lunch and when she rejects the food I just pour the food away and let her play - if she is hungry she will ask for food,

what makes this story worse is this mother is a nurse - if your baby doesn't want to eat don't force them ah ah
Re: African Woman In London Force Feeds Baby To Death! Sad! by Busybody2(f): 7:27pm On Oct 26, 2011
Awww, so she got jailed afterall sad The lady should not have been jailed for what is a cultural thing. It looks and the poor cries of the babe being fed comes across as barbaric, but if done properly does no harm to the baby. Surely this is the same as those other practices of bathing baby in hot water, making Mum sit on hot water, tying Mum with a rope round her middle until she can no longer breath to make the stomach flat again etc, na>

Na wa oh, so their is no one in that whole Country who could come forward to say it is a tradition, albeit an archaic one undecided sad sad

(1) (Reply)

How Do I Handle This Issue / Caleb Olawuyi & Belinda's Daughter Without Skull.n9.2m To Operate Her.(picture) / Men Which Of These Items Do You Consider As A Luxury To Provide In The House?

(Go Up)

Sections: politics (1) business autos (1) jobs (1) career education (1) romance computers phones travel sports fashion health
religion celebs tv-movies music-radio literature webmasters programming techmarket

Links: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

Nairaland - Copyright © 2005 - 2024 Oluwaseun Osewa. All rights reserved. See How To Advertise. 18
Disclaimer: Every Nairaland member is solely responsible for anything that he/she posts or uploads on Nairaland.