Four Month Old Wisconsin Girls Dies When Intoxicated Mom Falls Asleep While Breastfeeding

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Saturday, November 12, 2005

Twenty-seven year old Wisconsin resident Lorinda Hawkins, who was already on probation for child neglect has now been charged with one count of child neglect causing the death of her four month old daughter. Hawkins passed out while nursing her daughter, falling asleep on top of the infant and smothering her to death.

According to the Associated Press:

The 27-year-old - who was on probation for child neglect - had consumed six double-shot alcoholic beverages at a bowling alley, the complaint said. A toxicologist estimated her blood alcohol level ranged from .15 to .27 percent.



Her husband drove Hawkins and their 4-year-old daughter to the bowling alley and later brought them home, then went out drinking himself, according to the complaint. The baby was unresponsive when he returned an hour later, the complaint said.



Hawkins was on probation for neglect of the same child, and was prohibited from drinking alcohol and from having unsupervised contact with all four of her children at once, court documents show.

This is the kind of thing that just breaks my heart. Not because of the damage it does to the image of breastfeeding, because I think it's fairly clear to anyone that breastfeeding is not what caused this to happen. More so because the 4 month old child of a woman that had already been convicted of child neglect was allowed unsupervised visitation with that child.

I simply cannot understand why these people are allowed to continue to care for their children.

Labels: In the News

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