Charlotte Bevan Feared Her Newborn Baby Would Be Taken Into Care

Charlotte Bevan Feared Her Newborn Baby Would Be Taken Into Care
In this undated image issued Thursday Dec. 4, 2014, by Avon and Somerset Police, showing Charlotte Bevan, 30, released after Bevan and her new-born baby girl was formally identified Thursday Dec. 4, 2014, after being found in Avon Gorge, England. Bevan was seen on CCTV leaving Bristol Maternity Hospital on Tuesday night Dec. 2, wearing hospital slippers and holding her four-day-old baby girl, Zaani Tiana, wrapped in blankets. (AP Photo/Avon and Somerset Police)
AP
In this undated image issued Thursday Dec. 4, 2014, by Avon and Somerset Police, showing Charlotte Bevan, 30, released after Bevan and her new-born baby girl was formally identified Thursday Dec. 4, 2014, after being found in Avon Gorge, England. Bevan was seen on CCTV leaving Bristol Maternity Hospital on Tuesday night Dec. 2, wearing hospital slippers and holding her four-day-old baby girl, Zaani Tiana, wrapped in blankets. (AP Photo/Avon and Somerset Police)

Charlotte Bevan jumped to her death four days after giving birth because she feared her newborn baby would be taken into care, it's been claimed.

A source told The Sun the 30-year-old was seen by social workers three times before baby Zaani Tiana was born

Charlotte, who had suffered from depression and schizophrenia, had stopped taking her medication so that she could breastfeed when her baby arrived.

And according to the newspaper, she had become scared that Zaani would be taken into care by the authorities.

The six-day-old was found dead on a cliff face hours after Charlotte's body was found at the foot of the Avon Gorge on Wednesday.

The source said: "Charlotte was closely monitored throughout her pregnancy and had three referrals from midwives throughout her pregnancy.

"But she was clearly distraught by the time she left the hospital."

Charlotte walked out of a maternity ward at St Michael's Hospital on Tuesday evening and was found dead after a search of the area.

CCTV footage was released of her final moments in the hospital where she was seen walking past several nurses towards the door, wearing just hospital slippers on her feet and cradling her baby.

Questions are now being asked of hospital policy, and Bristol City Council said it expects there to be an independent serious case review.

University Hospitals Bristol NHS Trust has launched an inquiry into the care Ms Bevan received when she was there.

A University Hospitals Bristol spokesperson said: "While it remains unclear as to how Charlotte died, we will be conducting a thorough review of the care Charlotte and her baby received to see if there was anything we could have done to prevent this tragic and unexplained death."

Meanwhile, mourners are raising money for a post-natal depression support group in memory of tragic Charlotte her daughter.

Fundraisers are collecting cash for local charity Mothers For Mothers, who said the mother should have been given more support and closer monitoring.

Charity manager Ruth Hagin said: "Charlotte's disappearance shows a total lack of support that is available. Postnatal illness is incredibly difficult to understand if you haven't been through it yourself.

"If they knew at the hospital she had a history of depression she should have been monitored more closely. I'm assuming they were unable to because they were understaffed. It's something they should have been more aware of.

"That should have been red-flagged and she should have been given extra care in the hospital."

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