Maeva (Baby aged 7 months, France)

Pregnancy and Delivery

I had a perfect pregnancy despite bleeding during the first three months. The delivery, however, was premature at seven months of gestation, with over two hours of pushing without contractions.

Indeed, once dilated, there were no more contractions even after an injection of medication. The baby would descend then go back up, and eventually forceps had to be used for the delivery.

He thus experienced a back-and-forth motion for two hours before gynecological equipment had to be used.

The Day Everything Changed

We noticed that our child’s head circumference was increasing very rapidly; by three months, it had grown more than 10 cm.

Doctors told us he was catching up on his growth delay.

At six months, our son was cared for by a nanny. She called him her smiling baby. Our son wasn’t one to cry much (just during the first few months of life when we insisted that doctors finally recognize our child’s GERD), but we never felt overwhelmed. Our son has always been this adorable little being.

During the week of the problem, there was a minor incident at the nanny’s: he was turning on his play mat (learning to go from tummy to back) but did so too quickly and slightly hit his head against the motor skills mat. A few days later (our child was seven months old or five months corrected age), our nanny contacted us because our child had a severe episode; she called the firefighters and SAMU.

When the Diagnosis Fell

At the first hospital, we had to insist for a scan.

Then our son was transferred.

At the second hospital, additional tests were performed with many questions that made us feel judged; various possible diagnoses were given, including shaken baby syndrome (SBS).

We have family in the medical field who advised us on what questions to ask. We were refused a skeletal X-ray because it was the weekend and it wasn’t urgent. A nurse asked if we had family in the medical field; when we said yes, she replied: “We wondered how you could know so much.”

Our priority was our son. We had this feeling, this worry of losing him forever.

A report was made before our meeting with the social worker.

The blood tests indicated a drop in hemoglobin levels but the transfusion only happened two days later; a drain was placed on the third day of hospitalization, while they said: “Visually, the child is doing well, but inside it’s catastrophic.”

The hospital following our child for prematurity, which we chose to contact, mentioned the possibility of hydrocephalus due to the rapid catch-up growth in his head circumference. Some conclusions noted an “enlargement of pericerebral spaces with cerebral atrophy.”

The reporting hospital did not want to explore this hypothesis and even said that the cerebral atrophy was probably due to prematurity and had saved his life, which seemed illogical to the hospital following our child for prematurity.

During follow-ups at the reporting hospital:

Our child’s eye fundus examination was traumatic. They were forceful until they damaged his eye twice. The neurological exam showed a hypertonic child who could stand but refused to sit down. We were asked to see a physiotherapist, who did not understand this request and preferred teaching him how to land rather than forcing him to sit.

In the Judicial System

There has been no detention so far. Our child was placed in a third-party custody for two weeks, then this measure was lifted at the family affairs hearing, with ASE indicating the distress our child felt being away from us.

I was questioned, as well as my partner and our circle of acquaintances, as witnesses one and a half years after the incident, and we are still waiting for a response on the criminal side.

A medical expert opinion has been requested.

Living Under Suspicion

Our relationship has strengthened but our protective behavior toward our child has increased significantly.

He is very attached to us and traumatized by hospitals (blood draws are very complicated, any medical act ends in tears, even touching or washing his hair).

We had to take sick leave; my partner stopped working to care for the little one for a bit over a year.

We no longer trust medicine.

For consistency across testimonies, this text may have been slightly edited or translated by artificial intelligence. If you notice any error or inconsistency, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

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Story coming soon.

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Laura, UK

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Laurine, France

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Maë, France

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Manon, France

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Marissa, USA

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Mark, UK

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Mary, UK

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Melanie, Canada

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Melissa, USA

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Virginie, France

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