On 28 May, State Coroner Kamala Ponnampalam delivered her findings on the death of a mother who killed herself along with her newborn baby girl.
The 35-year-old woman, who gave birth to her daughter 5 weeks prior to her death, was found at the foot of a HDB block and pronounced dead at the scene, along with her daughter on 29 October last year.
The woman is also the mother to a 4-year-old girl.
Her death was ruled a suicide.
What happened?
On 29 October last year, at about 5pm, a passerby heard a loud thud from the back of the HDB and saw a baby lying on the ground. Moments later he heard another loud thud and saw the mother on the ground.
He immediately called the police, and the duo were subsequently pronounced dead at the scene.
Their cause of deaths were later determined to be multiple injuries consistent with a fall from height.
The police later found a mobile phone in the family’s home on the 10th floor which contained a voice recording of the woman left behind for her husband.
In the voice recording, she said that they shouldn’t have had the baby as she didn’t know how to care for babies of their family.
She added that her mind was not working and she had no idea what she was doing, adding that she was not a good mother and wife, and that she had let them down.
She asked her husband to take care of their elder daughter and said that she regrets not being able to be around to watch her grow up.
She then summed up her message saying that there was no other way as her mind wasn’t working.
The woman’s friend and colleague suspected that she was suffering from postnatal depression.
Coroner’s findings
State Coroner Kamala Ponnampalam said:
“(The woman’s) husband responded by reassuring her and making some alternative care arrangements for their older child. Unfortunately, (her) concerns and anxiety persisted.”
“Most of all, a good support network and genuine encouragement from family and friends are essential to help the new mum cope.”
Image source: Google Maps (Top image used strictly for illustration purposes only)