UT - mom charged with breaking baby's bones while dressing her

MsFacetious said:

I do hope that issues with bone development were looked into.
However... I have a feeling that they were not.
We have seen cases of "abuse" that were not abuse.
We've seen families torn apart and even suicides from these cases.
Hopefully the family is able to get those things ruled out.

The older comments on this article are from family/friends.
The story they tell makes more sense to me than the way the article tells it.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=35602238

A doctor examining the child discovered "multiple broken bones, two in the left arm and one in the right arm, and one in each leg," according to charges filed in 3rd District Court.

The doctor concluded that the injuries "cannot plausibly be explained by accidental injury, and should be considered consistent with inflicted trauma," the charging documents state.


http://www.deseretnews.com/article/...ng-babys-bones-while-dressing-her.html?pg=all

Police and prosecutors believe the abuse had been happening from the girl's birth on Oct. 25 to March 3, 2015.

Heiner allegedly told investigators that her daughter cried a lot and "gets stiff" when she tried to dress her. She said she "forces" the baby's arms and legs into the clothes, and "on more than one occasion she has heard popping sounds while dressing" her, according to the charges.

The mother said if her daughter did have broken bones, it was an accident.

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Indy Anna said:

My first thought when I read the title of this thread was that the baby could have brittle bone disease, or Osteogenesis Imperfecta, which some commenters below the articles are suggesting. I had a roommate in the hospital, when I was a teenager, who had OI. I think she was about 4 and she was admitted to the hospital frequently for broken bones. She would just be playing on the floor when a bone in her arm or leg would break.

I don't know if OI could cause a child's muscles to contract or if it might be associated with other conditions such as Cerebal Palsy in which the muscles are rigid ~ usually worse on one side. I've worked with children who have CP and low muscle tone; children with muscular diseases are difficult to dress so you have to know how to dress them carefully.

I'm hoping investigators got medical opinions on the baby to rule out a condition such as OI. If the baby does have an undiagnosed disease preventing control of her muscles, the mother's description of "forcing" the baby's limbs into clothes may simply mean that the baby's muscles don't relax when she tries to dress her. If the baby has OI, the mother would not have to literally use force to dress the baby for bones to break (the popping sounds). But, the fact that the baby would cry while being dressed is concerning. Obviously, the baby was distressed.

I hope the mother wasn't trying to dress the baby in clothes that are too small and literally forcing the clothes on, i.e., twisting the baby's limbs (Ugh!) to get them through the openings. Babies quickly outgrow their clothes. I don't know if this mother was brutally abusing her baby out of impatience/anger, was ignorantly trying to dress the baby in clothes that don't fit (could the mother be mentally delayed?), or the baby suffers from an undiagnosed bone disorder. I hope all possibilities have been considered.

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sonjay said:

OI was the first thing that popped into my mind. I used to work for a hospital system that treated a lot of kids with OI. Some of the parents often ended up carrying with them at all times a note from the child's doctor about the child's condition, because they would be arrested so often for abuse.

Yes, dressing the child can and does cause broken bones. There are actually lines of clothing for kids with OI, that are made with velcro seams everywhere so that parents can just lay the child on the clothes and wrap the clothing into place.

The "popping sounds" thing is concerning. Even if this child has undiagnosed OI, the popping sounds should have sent mom & child to the doctor. You don't ignore popping sounds (repeated popping sounds!) that happen while you're dressing your baby.

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wendybtn said:

I do hope that in this day and age they brought in an OI expert before any charges were filed or arrests were made.

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Three years ago, Karrissa Cox and Richard Carter, from Guildford, Surrey, took the then six-week-old infant to accident and emergency after noticing bleeding in the baby’s mouth following a feed.

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The baby was taken into care after hospital staff noticed minor bruises and an X-ray revealed what were thought to be healing metaphyseal fractures – damage to a piece of cartilage that turns into bone on adulthood which can be a sign of physical abuse of a child.

However, it was later discovered that the child was suffering from a blood disorder, Von Willebrands II, which causes someone to bruise more easily, and a vitamin D deficiency that causes infantile rickets. An expert radiologist, commissioned by the prosecution, also gave evidence on Tuesday that it was unlikely there had actually been any fractures in the first place.

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cocomod said:

Here is an example of a couple that was wrongly accused of abuse. Three years later, they have been exonerated; however, their child was put up for adoption. They may never get their child back even though it was NOT their fault!!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...mpt-win-custody-warned-never-child-again.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...likely-to-see-their-child-again-a6685471.html

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