A mother told an inquest she did not know she had given birth until flushing her baby down a toilet by accident. Claire Jones, 32, became pregnant after an affair with a work colleague but hid her condition from friends and family. After "panicking" in the toilet at her partner's parents' home in Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, she hid the baby in her car boot, where police found it. /.../ But on 28 December last year, a week after her due date, she experienced pains which she put down to diarrhoea. She told the inquest: "While I was still on the toilet, I flushed it, and I felt something pull. I stood up slightly, and I could see a foot in the bowl of the toilet." Cardiff Coroner Mary Hassell asked Ms Jones if she realised she had given birth. Ms Jones replied: "No". She said the baby was underneath the water covered in toilet paper. Ms Jones broke down as she said: "I could see the baby's foot, so I pulled the baby out. "I sat by the toilet. I put him on my lap. He wasn't crying. I was trying to feel for a pulse and there was nothing." Ms Jones was asked why she did not call for help. She said: "Because nobody knew I was pregnant. Because he wasn't breathing, I just panicked. I didn't know what to do." She said she tried to revive him by blowing into his mouth and massaging his heart. She said: "I just kept trying and trying, and it wasn't working. There was nothing I could do. He was blue. "I wrapped him in a towel. I don't remember how, but I must have put him in the boot of the car." The inquest heard Ms Jones was arrested 10 days later at the home in St Mellons, Cardiff, she shared with Mr Stoneman, and Daniel's body was found in her Vauxhall Astra car. A post-mortem examination found Daniel weighed seven-and-a-half pounds (3.4kg) , but could not confirm if he died before or after birth. Claire Jones was given a suspended jail sentence for concealing the birth.
Claire Jones, 32, became pregnant after an affair with a work colleague but hid her condition from friends and family.
After "panicking" in the toilet at her partner's parents' home in Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, she hid the baby in her car boot, where police found it.
/.../
But on 28 December last year, a week after her due date, she experienced pains which she put down to diarrhoea.
She told the inquest: "While I was still on the toilet, I flushed it, and I felt something pull. I stood up slightly, and I could see a foot in the bowl of the toilet."
Cardiff Coroner Mary Hassell asked Ms Jones if she realised she had given birth. Ms Jones replied: "No".
She said the baby was underneath the water covered in toilet paper.
Ms Jones broke down as she said: "I could see the baby's foot, so I pulled the baby out.
"I sat by the toilet. I put him on my lap. He wasn't crying. I was trying to feel for a pulse and there was nothing."
Ms Jones was asked why she did not call for help. She said: "Because nobody knew I was pregnant. Because he wasn't breathing, I just panicked. I didn't know what to do."
She said she tried to revive him by blowing into his mouth and massaging his heart.
She said: "I just kept trying and trying, and it wasn't working. There was nothing I could do. He was blue.
"I wrapped him in a towel. I don't remember how, but I must have put him in the boot of the car."
The inquest heard Ms Jones was arrested 10 days later at the home in St Mellons, Cardiff, she shared with Mr Stoneman, and Daniel's body was found in her Vauxhall Astra car.
A post-mortem examination found Daniel weighed seven-and-a-half pounds (3.4kg) , but could not confirm if he died before or after birth.
Claire Jones was given a suspended jail sentence for concealing the birth.
Full story Anyone else think this is pure bullshit? I mean, labor takes many many hours, how can you not know you're giving birth?
There have been other incidents of (typically obese) women who've delivered a baby without realising she was pregnant. The obesity apparently can hide the pregnancy as well as screw up periods.And as someone pointed out, it could be a very small baby perhaps so premature and/or stillborn that it isn't large and isn't "viable" after birth.
Yeah, it doesn't seem plausible, but there are ways that this could happen. Have you ever seen an obese pregnant woman? You can't exactly tell. Plus obese women tend to have problems during pregnancy, so I can imagine the baby could have been premature or even small for any other complication.
But considering she didn't realize he was there for the longest time, I'd say he was probably stillborn anyway.
And it could be possible. Some people have very easy births, and she might have been exerting herself anyway.