Mother and child die after birth in toilet in Aichi apartment

Friday 13th February, 08:53 AM JST

AICHI —

A 42-year-old woman and her newborn child died after the woman gave birth in the toilet of her apartment in Toyota City on Thursday, police said. One of the woman’s five children heard her mother groaning around 3 p.m., and when she checked on her, found her mother on the floor of the toilet alongside the newborn. The daughter called for an ambulance but the pair were already dead when personnel arrived.

Police said the baby girl was wrapped in towels and weighed 3,800 grams. They also said that the woman had apparently been in ill health over the past week. An autopsy will be conducted on Friday.

The woman lived with her husband and their five children. The husband was home at the time but was not aware of his wife’s delivery, police said.

News reports

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Latest 15 of 58 Total Comments Show All

illsayit at 09:35 PM JST - 13th February

whatever the treatment be; the father not aware of the birth, and then a still unexplained, deaths, of both of them.3800gr is a newborn good-sized, need more info.
kanadamanada at 09:36 PM JST - 13th February

I'm thinking that the police are going to have something to add to this story in the coming days/weeks. I'm not buying the "I didn't know she'd died" angle. She delivered, then wrapped the baby up in towels, yet didn't think to alert her husband?

OH COME ON!
illsayit at 09:51 PM JST - 13th February

I cant find anything in Japanese about this?
luilui at 01:22 AM JST - 14th February

kwatt is not entirely wrong. there are hospitals that induce births in japan, but certainly not at the doctor's convenience. mostly the mother's. it's called a planned delivery. there's nothing wrong with having an artificailly induced labour even if the mother is not late or has no probs, if it is around the due date.
seesaw at 01:23 AM JST - 14th February

cleo: but again, a loving husband would check on his wife to make sure she's OK. A big family like that is rare in Japan...I reckon something must be wrong somewhere in that family..
luilui at 01:26 AM JST - 14th February

don't hate the hubby. feel sorry for him. he's now gotta care for 5 kids and console them for having no mother.
bobbafett at 03:05 AM JST - 14th February

like most posters I have to agree about the husband. What a knob. Of course she could have been a complete B!@#$ and he did not care.
Molenir at 06:07 AM JST - 14th February

don't hate the hubby. feel sorry for him. he's now gotta care for 5 kids and console them for having no mother.

Assuming he wasn't complicit in his wifes death, then I do feel sorry for him. 5 kids without a mother. Hope some of them are older, and not just rugrats running around. Still at 42 with 5 kids, it sounds like a couple that started earlier. So its likely that some of the kids are in their mid to late teens.
blackstarrr2003 at 09:56 AM JST - 14th February

What the hell was she doing giving birth in a toilet??.. did she not know she was gonna have a baby.. sounds strange.. or was she trying to flush it because it was the mailmans????
cleo at 10:03 AM JST - 14th February

A Japanese article I found stated that the daughter who found the mother in the toilet was 19 years old.

I don't think I would want to be married to any of the posters who are insisting that a 'loving husband' follows his wife to the toilet and puts a stopwatch on how long she's in there....
kavikahi at 05:39 PM JST - 14th February

This is absurd reading and belongs on a tabloid, details about the home situation would be helpful to readers yet the mother and newborn are the two who needed help huh.
seesaw at 08:49 PM JST - 15th February

Cleo: it's alright if you wouldn't want to marry someone like me...I was just pointing out that the woman was very pregnant, due at anytime, and a loving husband should be more sensitive towards her. As to check on her when she's in the toilet for that long.....
seggahme at 07:09 AM JST - 17th February

The husband was home at the time but was not aware of his wife’s delivery

such a big house?
gurugurugaijin at 02:00 PM JST - 17th February

Holy...

This is the most tragic story I think I've ever read here.

The mother wasn't 16.

She wasn't hiding her pregnancy.

She had other children.

She wasn't a single mom.

She wrapped the baby in towels so she wasn't looking to harm it.

What the heck?
dammit at 01:12 PM JST - 19th February

It's very irritating that so many people here like to point the finger of blame, at the father for being possibly drunk and neglectful, at the mother for not calling for help. I'm pleased that there are plenty of people who see things more realistically though, but I'll add a less hostile voice to the clamour just to even things up a bit more.

This is very tragic, as such incidents always are. I'd like to know what this illness was, but I find it very easy to believe that it could have contributed to a sudden birth and seriously endangered both mother and child. Some diseases of pregnancy are like that. Why it wasn't diagnosed is a more important question.

As for the father, he could have been taking a nap, or sorting the laundry, helping other kids with homework, or any number of things that would make it more difficult for him to hear groans or feeble cries coming from another room. Don't forget she was obviously unwell and may not have had the strength to do much except wrap up the poor mite. Unfortunately being wrapped up wasn't enough to save the baby.

As for the induction of births, I have no reason to believe it's routine in Japan. Maybe some doctors or maternity units might be aggressive and stupid in that way, but the hospital I went to was very clear that we should go in when labour got to a certain point, and the doctor only offered induction because I was halfway dilated while still only 39 weeks, and with no Japanese language ability to speak of it would have been very dodgy me trying to get to the hospital on my own if my hubby was at work. It was obviously going to be a short labour once it finally got going.