QUOTE OF THE DAY: "When Teddy came back, I didn’t know his routine. It took a while, but we found it again together. He’d got used to a different mum putting him to bed, another voice tucking him in and saying: “Good night.” I don’t think I’ll ever truly recover from that."
Gina Hodgkins;
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SECOND QUOTE OF THE DAY:
‘These cases are by no means easy. ‘Doctors are all too aware of the dreadful reality of child abuse and need to protect vulnerable babies. Doctors need to be more aware of these alternative diagnoses, to be open-minded and unafraid to challenge dogma."
Dr. Waney Squier;
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STORY: "Seven police officers turned up to tear Gina’s baby from her arms – even though she’d done nothing wrong: It took 5 months to get him back and other mums have been falsely accused for the same reason," by Edith West, published on edithwest.co on January11, 2018.
SUMMARY: "Gina Hodgkins and her son’s dad Joshua were mistakenly accused of abuse; Their newborn son Teddy suffers from EDS which makes the body’s tissue fragile; Affecting up to one in 5,000 babies EDS causes skin to bruise easily; Teddy and his sister Amelia were taken into foster care until he was diagnosed;"
GIST: "For any devoted mother with a baby who suffers from colic, it’s a familiar ritual. After every feed, Gina Hodgkins would sit her newborn son Teddy on her lap to rub his back and release any trapped wind causing him discomfort. She supported his floppy head by gripping him under his chin, with her finger and thumb resting on his cheeks. So far, so normal. But what happened to Gina, Teddy, his dad and big sister as a result of this entirely innocent routine will strike horror into the hearts of parents everywhere. Gina’s sturdy grip left marks on Teddy’s cheeks which were exacerbated by an underlying genetic condition few people have heard of. It resulted in two small bruises on his cheeks, which had Gina, and Teddy’s dad Joshua, labelled as abusive parents. After they were reported by a health visitor, seven police officers arrived at the door to forcibly remove the sleeping baby from his mother’s frantic grasp. Both Teddy and his sister Amelia, then six, were taken into emergency foster care. It took another five months for their innocence to be proved. And, as we will hear, Gina’s story is unlikely to be an isolated case. Every year, scores of parents have their babies taken away from them after being accused of shaking them so violently that they are left with bruising, broken bones and bleeding on the brain. Some are convicted of the crimes and jailed. But evidence is emerging that some of these children are not mistreated. They might, like Teddy, have been born with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), a gene mutation that affects the body’s connective tissue, making it fragile and stretchy. One of the symptoms is that the skin bruises more easily. It is known as an ‘invisible disability’ and affects up to one in 5,000 babies. Campaigners increasingly believe that EDS may account for some of the estimated 250 court cases involving shaken baby syndrome every year in Britain, according to doctors who specialise in child abuse. It’s a difficult line to tread. If the police and health and social work professionals don’t investigate bruising and injuries in children, it could end in tragedy. Few can forget the terrible case of toddler Peter Connelly, known as Baby P, who died in 2007 at the hands of his mother, her abusive boyfriend and his brother.
Yet the other side of the story could be
the unimaginable horror of innocent children being unjustly removed from
their families. Gina, 25, and her partner Joshua Sparkes,
22, an online retail worker, fear they will never recover from those
‘lost’ five months. Gina says: ‘My son and daughter were taken away from
me when I did nothing wrong. I lost five months’ bonding during a
formative time in their lives. I can never get that back.’ The couple met and fell in love more than
two years ago and moved to Leatherhead, Surrey, with Gina’s daughter
Amelia from a previous relationship. They were both excited when Gina
discovered she was pregnant with a baby boy. ‘We painted Amelia’s room
yellow and decorated one side with his name, Teddy, just for him,’ says
Gina. The birth at Epsom General Hospital, on July 9, 2016, with both
Joshua and her mother Pauline in attendance, was quick and easy, and
Teddy arrived a healthy 7 lb 8 oz. Nevertheless, Gina suspected something
wasn’t quite right: ‘When my mum took him for a cuddle, she said he
looked a bit bruised. There were marks on his arms as well. ‘The nurse reassured me it was normal, and
was a result of him getting a bit squashed during delivery. But it
hadn’t been a forceps birth, so I was surprised.’ Back home, over the next few weeks, most
of the marks faded. But there were two that never went — bruises on the
lower part of both his cheeks. ‘I was taking him to be weighed at six
weeks old and the health visitor asked if I had any concerns. I showed
her the bruises and she said: “Yes, I was about to ask you what they
were.” ’ And so the nightmare began. The health
visitor went to make some calls, then said she’d contacted social
services and the police. Gina was told to go home and wait. Frightened —
but knowing she’d done nothing wrong — Gina did as she was told. Joshua
came from work and met her at home. ‘These cases are by no means easy,’ she
says. ‘Doctors are all too aware of the dreadful reality of child abuse
and need to protect vulnerable babies. Doctors need to be more aware of
these alternative diagnoses, to be open-minded and unafraid to challenge
dogma.’ Asked about Teddy’s case, a Surrey County
Council spokesman said: ‘Any case like this is really difficult, but we
can have only one thing in mind and that’s the welfare of the child.
This case was based on medical evidence provided to us and examined by a
family court, which decided it was right for the child to be removed
from his parents, and also considered new information when it came to
light.’ When she finally got Teddy home, Gina said the only apology she received was from the judge. Teddy is now 18 months old and thriving, although for his parents, the memories are still very raw. ‘Amelia remembers it all, but doesn’t like
to bring it up, and, mainly at night, still gets scared she might get
put into foster care again,’ says Gina. ‘When Teddy came back, I didn’t know his
routine. It took a while, but we found it again together. He’d got used
to a different mum putting him to bed, another voice tucking him in and
saying: “Good night.” I don’t think I’ll ever truly recover from that.’"
The entire story can be found at:
http://edithwest.com/2018/01/11/seven-police-officers-turned-tear-ginas-baby-arms-even-though-shed-done-nothing-wrong-took-5-months-get-back-mums-falsely-accu/
See Dr. Wainey Squier quote in related story at the link below: "Dr Waney Squier, a consultant paediatric
neurologist who has acted as an expert witness in shaken baby cases,
said: ‘These cases are by no means easy. ‘Doctors are all too aware of the dreadful
reality of child abuse and need to protect vulnerable babies. Doctors
need to be more aware of these alternative diagnoses, to be open-minded
and unafraid to challenge dogma.’"
http://metro.co.uk/2018/01/12/police-tore-baby-from-mothers-arms-when-genetic-condition-was-mistaken-for-abuse-7223696/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the
Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my
previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put
considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith
and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic
pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses
on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/c
