crime

Woman arrested for attempting to drown one-week-old daughter

55 Comments

Police in Sakurai City, Nara Prefecture, have arrested a 32-year-old woman for attempting to kill her one-week-old daughter by drowning her in a bathtub. Police identified the suspect as Chikako Matsuo.

According to police, the incident occurred on Friday. The infant was discovered floating face up in the bathtub at around 11 a.m. by Matsuo's father, NTV reported.

The child was rushed to the hospital where she was in a stable condition on Saturday, police said.

Following her arrest, Matsuo was quoted as saying she had wanted to kill her daughter after she began feeling uneasy about her ability to raise a child.

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55 Comments
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This is depression,a kind of rarely seen mentally ill disorder. Usually this happens after women gave birth to their first children

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I don't understand why these kinds of news happen a lot in Japan... are the parents there really under so much more pressure than new parents from other countries?

Do you have some facts that indicate these things happen more often in Japan, or is this just another case of someone's view getting distorted because they spend too much time on JT?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

What happened to being f'd in the head?

being f'd in the head is some kind of Post partum Illness (LaWren and SL the only productive of your discussion was the discovery of more than one post partum illness . Whether they can be seen as a continuum from one mild and other severe or totally different diseases was a waste of time).

Only those who have experienced having a child either natural birth or C-section can tell the effects of the emotional turmoil that comes with having a child, a post partum illness could be overcome by their themselves, others with therapy counseling and some with heavy medication, I have seen cases where the baby is really loved and expected by the mother but when the baby is born, the mother being indifferent or negligent, or the "maternal instinct" being "Shut down", The severity of this emotional turmoil can lead to many things, some are able to detect it and go get help (the level of irrationality will vary with each women) and some other will not even recognize that they are depressed and just think it is exhaustion.

Nevertheless, I'm glad the baby is alive and safe, as for the mother, she needs first a professional psychiatric evaluation, what she said " I thought I was not able to take care of a baby" or something like that as an excuse for trying to kill her baby suggest some kind of mental illness, unless she's a complete psychopath to cook up that excuse, which at the same time suggest she has a mental illness.

As an excuse "to get away with murder", in this case I see it doubtful, since it looks like since she left the hospital and came home she might have seen herself "alone" without the help of the nurses when she was in her home, that's a turning point of realizing what you have to face in the future, PPD, (and some of its "sisters") is triggered after events like that, in many families, when a baby is born the mother gets showered with gifts, visit from relatives, and lot of people looking after your baby, but then when all that stuff goes, you have to face it alone (or maybe with help with the mother, the husband or the nanny) and it is not the same...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Is there such a thing as a "confinement nanny" in Japan? If so it might help as you get a helper for the first month after giving birth and a new mother might not be so stressed.

I don't understand why these kinds of news happen a lot in Japan... are the parents there really under so much more pressure than new parents from other countries? So glad the newborn is OK.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

No one said it definitely was PPD but it does seem like a very likely cause.

That is debatable since we don't really know much about her. Should we assume every time a mother does wrong that it is because of PPD? With thinking like this, women will start using PPD as an excuse to get away with murder.

I think it's very easy to just sit back and say that she is immature or didn't want the baby so tried to kill it and therefor she is evil and we should pick her up. Iit lessens our responsibility as a society to make helping women with PPD feel empowered to ask for help when they are at their weakest.

Its very easy for us to say either one, if we are just posting messages on JT. People choosing to write "she is evil" is a natural reaction to a disgusting act that they read about.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

No one said it definitely was PPD but it does seem like a very likely cause. Many women don't get help because they don't think they have it, don't want to acknowledge it or fear that if they do ask for help, that their baby will be taken away. It's very sad. I think it's very easy to just sit back and say that she is immature or didn't want the baby so tried to kill it and therefor she is evil and we should pick her up. Iit lessens our responsibility as a society to make helping women with PPD feel empowered to ask for help when they are at their weakest.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

who said she had PPD?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Hopefully none of you will ever have to experience PPD first hand. It can come on suddenly and intensely. It causes one to act irrationally like this. Yes, a healthy person would know to ask for help but a sleep deprived mother who suddenly hits a wall may not have that capacity or may not even have a support system depending on circumstances.

I can only hope that I will be able to escape PPD after the birth of my second in a couple of weeks.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

So her father discovered the baby. Does she live with her parents? Sounds like they are helping out, yet she still feels the need to kill off her child. What does she expect to get out of that? Did she not think about the consequences, or perhaps did and came to the conclusion that she would be let off the hook easily?

Much like we have kids who kill because they know they will serve no real jail time, I hope they take into consideration that women might be murdering their kids knowing that they will be out of prison in a couple of years or less.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Strangerland is stubborn in his position but not negative.

Thank you for the acknowledgement.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I'm bullying you refuting your arguments using points brought up in the article that you posted? You have a very different meaning of the word bullying than I do apparently.

Debating is not bullying.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Im afraid it is you who hasnt understood the sentence it is not the same illness. They are different psychiatric illness, one more dangerous than the other. You still are trying to bully me, the only thing I can do is stay away from Japan Today, Im not going to feed your pathetic need to bully other people.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Why are all these mothers flipping-out, murdering or attempting to murder their babies? Using the same old line & excuses. Pathetic.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

You still didn't read the link did you. They talk about the continuum further down the page, and they talk about treatment of PPD, while referring to all levels of it.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

. It may be useful to conceptualize these disorders as existing along a continuum, where postpartum blues is the mildest and postpartum psychosis the most severe form of postpartum psychiatric illness.

OK, Stranger, lets look at that shall we. That sentence does not say it is the same illness. It says that they are both post partum illnesses, and PND is the mildest psychiatric illness, and psychosis the most severe. And only that it "may be useful to THINK OF" them like this. It does not say depression is the same as psychosis. The post natal thing is only the trigger - and the only thing they have in common.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I have watched the back-and-forth on this and just find it all a little over-the-top.

None of us knows the details, other than what was in the article. Unless some of you have information from other sources.

@Crazyjoe captured the sentiment correctly.

More than anything, thankfully the daughter survived and is safe. If the daughter is one-week old, then the mother and daughter must have JUST been discharged from the hospital, as the average post birth stay in Japan is nearly 1 week. We don't know for sure, but that is a reasonable assumption. So, I won't speculate, but there is every possibility that this was the mother and baby's first or second night at home following the birth.

None of us know anything more than this. We don't know this woman and her circumstances. All we know is that something prompted her to take this action one week after her daughter was born, at a time when new life should be being celebrated.

One thing I do know is this. Japan does not do nearly enough to support new mothers, particularly these days. There are not nearly enough resources. Yes, younger people are "more spoiled" and all of that. But, OK, so what?! Women are supposed to suck it up and "do their job". Make babies and all of that. And the ones most guilty of not being supportive when they should know better are the older women, who just tell younger women to grow up, gaman, shikkari shite and all of that.

I am not making any excuses for anyone, as I still don't have enough facts to make any pronouncement here. This is just a general observation.

Regardless, what I think about is what will happen to this young baby girl. What does her life now hold? What relationship will she have with her mother and what, if anything, will she know of this when she gets older.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Talk about totally misrepresenting what was said in the article, SL.

How did I misrepresent it? I directly quoted it. I literally copy-pasted the text from the article. And just to refresh your memory of what the article you posted said:

Postpartum psychiatric illness is typically divided into three categories: (1) postpartum blues (2) postpartum depression and (3) postpartum psychosis. It may be useful to conceptualize these disorders as existing along a continuum, where postpartum blues is the mildest and postpartum psychosis the most severe form of postpartum psychiatric illness.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Puerperal psychosis is considered a psychiatric emergency that typically requires inpatient treatment. Acute treatment with either typical or atypical anti-psychotic medications is indicated.

Talk about totally misrepresenting what was said in the article, SL.

They are different illnesses. The baby blues being the least serious, and post partum psychosis the most serious. PND requires totally different treatment to pps. They are different diseases. If you are going to present yourself as the voice or reason and science on Japantoday at least get it right, buddy.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

You said, did you not?: ""You are describing logical thought - women aren't thinking logically when they have PPD. They literally aren't in their right minds."

UnagitoSaru sought help. So was she in her right mind or wasn't she?

She wasn't in her right mind - that would be her mind absent of the thoughts she was having. But she wasn't as far along the scale as those who are so deep that they think that murdering their child is the answer to the problem.

why could Matsuo not do the same?

Because the illness is not the same for everyone who suffers it.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Strangerland: "I haven't said anything whatsoever about UnagitoSaru."

You said, did you not?: ""You are describing logical thought - women aren't thinking logically when they have PPD. They literally aren't in their right minds."

UnagitoSaru sought help. So was she in her right mind or wasn't she? And if she could do it and her baby survive this disease that takes the blame for attempted murder or murder when the women succeed, why could Matsuo not do the same?

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

You accept that psychosis is a totally different illness to depression, SL? PND and PNP are both post natal mental illnesses, but that is where the similarity stops.

Did you not read the link you posted?

Postpartum psychiatric illness is typically divided into three categories: (1) postpartum blues (2) postpartum depression and (3) postpartum psychosis. It may be useful to conceptualize these disorders as existing along a continuum, where postpartum blues is the mildest and postpartum psychosis the most severe form of postpartum psychiatric illness.

Thank you for saving me the troubles of having to find something to support what I'm saying.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

You accept that psychosis is a totally different illness to depression, SL? PND and PNP are both post natal mental illnesses, but that is where the similarity stops. Part of the reason a lot of women don't go and get help with their post natal depression is because they do not want to be labelled as potential baby-murderers, when PND suffers are at no risk of doing so in the first place.

A woman with PND is absolutely able to distinguish between right and wrong, whilst a woman suffering from the very rare post natal psychosis has lost touch with reality. Not all women who murder their child have post natal psychosis. Some are just spoilt little princesses who realise the party is over.

http://womensmentalhealth.org/specialty-clinics/postpartum-psychiatric-disorders/

I hope things continue to get better for you unagitosaru.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

why aren't people blaming her for her actions and instead blaming it on illness?

Because having the illness takes women out of their right minds when they get to this point.

"You are describing logical thought - women aren't thinking logically when they have PPD. They literally aren't in their right minds."

So you're saying UnagitoSaru is a liar about her illness because she went to get help? or are you saying she was not in her right mind when she went to get it?

I haven't said anything whatsoever about UnagitoSaru.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Strangerland: "I did, and it seems you are trying to say that so called acronyms don't exist."

No, cracaphat asks why so many are quick to try and explain away their actions, as you have and are doing. You couldn't address my above point -- why aren't people blaming her for her actions and instead blaming it on illness?

"You are describing logical thought - women aren't thinking logically when they have PPD. They literally aren't in their right minds."

So you're saying UnagitoSaru is a liar about her illness because she went to get help? or are you saying she was not in her right mind when she went to get it? (in which case this woman could have, too). And anyway, since you said "they are the same thing" for two completely different illnesses, I think it's clear which one of us doesn't know about the illness (plural).

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

I never said it's a step, I said it's different degrees of the same thing.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

They are totally different illnesses, though triggered by the same event - childbirth. PND, does not have a psychotic, manic element to it. Severe post natal depression is not a step on the way to post natal psychosis.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Women with ppd dont hurt their children, the only person they hurt is themselves. A different condition, post natal psychosis carries a 10 percent chance of infanticide/suicide.

Fair enough. Though I wouldn't necessary say they are different, just different degrees of the same illness.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Women with ppd dont hurt their children, the only person they hurt is themselves. A different condition, post natal psychosis carries a 10 percent chance of infanticide/suicide. At least get the science right, if you are going to wave it around, SL.

This woman chose to give in to the thoughts and compulsions of her mental illness, instead of walking out and away, getting help, or hurting herself. She is at least partly culpable. I have no idea how she will justify to herself even holding this child again, no matter what the reason, some things just cannot be taken back.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

post partum depression does not lead to one careying out an act of nurder against a child. That is lack of morality, ethics... let's stop making the unacceptable acceptable via a mere excuse.

The woman needs help but attempted murder against an infant is just heinous.

-5 ( +5 / -10 )

Chiseled451 that's very rude of you to call someone scary for suffering what is called baby blues. You talk as if i said I tried to kill my child and need help. Many mothers suffer from baby blues and the bad thoughts aren't always toward their children. Bad thouhhts can range from "im a bad mother/ I regret having my baby" to "I want to murder my baby" you don't know what thoughts I had as I never mentioned what they were.

I never needed professional help because I never let it get to that point. Like I mentioned I asked for help to get some sleep so I never reach that depression stage.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

I did, and it seems you are trying to say that so called acronyms don't exist.

So again, are you trying to say postpartum depression doesn't exist?

0 ( +5 / -5 )

So let's get this straight, you are trying to say postpartum depression doesn't exist?

0 ( +6 / -6 )

This woman has some real MENTAL problems, my guess she already had them and now with the new born baby, the stress, the sleepless nights, may have driven her over the edge. Do hope the family can help this woman out, and keep the baby away from her, because this time she tried to kill the little baby and NEXT time the poor baby will most likely end up dead or brain dead etc...

2 ( +4 / -2 )

I know full well what PPD is, and how it affects people

This comment shows you don't:

I already said the woman should have gotten help

You are describing logical thought - women aren't thinking logically when they have PPD. They literally aren't in their right minds.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

Strangerland: "No one has said it's not her fault."

The better point to make is that no one who brings up PPD has said it IS her fault. Or, who does? A couple have said, "What she did was bad, but..." or, "It shouldn't be (but is) an excuse", etc.

"Do you actually know what ppd is, and what that entails? Your posts make it pretty clear you don't."

Oh, stop with the pretending to know what others do nonsense. I know full well what PPD is, and how it affects people, and I already said the woman should have gotten help and have understanding (thanks to not concluding my comment well, I left out "BEFORE she tries to kill her baby"). I agree with posters like UsagitoSaru that more clinics and the medical practice in general need to emphasize more to women that if they are EVER having such thoughts, however minor, they should come to them or seek help elsewhere, but this woman did not. And as such, let her get help, IN AN INSTITUTION, while the baby is out of harm's way. I do NOT want the baby back in her arms tomorrow because people feel sorry for her. She deserves no better treatment than someone who is depressed or stressed out, or suffers some other mental disorder, and tries to kill someone.

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

No one has said it's not her fault.

Do you actually know what ppd is, and what that entails?

Your posts make it pretty clear you don't.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Strangerland: "Who said it's not her fault?"

The people who rush to point out that it's the fault of PPD. The system that will likely just let this woman go and put the child back in her arms for it to happen again.

-6 ( +2 / -8 )

the fact that many on her are sympathizing with her and saying it's not her fault

Who said it's not her fault?

3 ( +4 / -1 )

And here we go -- a would-be child murderer getting the usual sympathy from the usual folks -- some of whom waste no time in coming on here and immediately talking about how the men who do the same thing, father or step-father, are scum who need to be locked up without question for the exact same excuses "the baby wouldn't stop crying," etc. Sorry, but I don't care if it was PPD or anything else -- the woman tried to MURDER her infant. That is no excuse, and she deserves no sympathy for her actions. If she's TRULY suffering from PPD and is seeking help, then yes I think it is our job to help her and encourage her. But the fact that many on her are sympathizing with her and saying it's not her fault, and that "what she did was bad, but..." is rather sick in and of itself. First things first, take the baby away from this loon, and never give it back. Second, lock her up. If it's PPD then in an asylum instead of a prison for the time being.

Pity the woman all you want, but I for one don't want to be reading about how she succeeded in murdering her baby a few days from now because those who pity her and insist she not be punished and keep the bay have their way.

-6 ( +2 / -8 )

She is suffering from POST NATAL DISORDER i guess so!

0 ( +2 / -2 )

she's 32 wow old enough ... but acting like 20's

-9 ( +1 / -10 )

let's chalk it up to post-partum depression and let her off with a warning..... personal responsibility and a moral code be dammed!!!!!

You're using the term (although you spelled it wrong), but it's apparent you don't know what it means.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Following her arrest, Matsuo was quoted as saying she had wanted to kill

There it is folks!

Yeah, it's very easy to say she was suffering from PD, but it's not very difficult to say she was suffering from a deeper mental disorder before she had the child. Every time a mother tries to kill her kid, which is pretty often, the PD supporters come out in force. Yeah, maybe she was depressed, but killing her kid only after a week of motherhood shows she was not right in the head to begin with.

1 ( +7 / -6 )

let's chalk it up to post-partum depression and let her off with a warning..... personal responsibility and a moral code be dammed!!!!!

-7 ( +4 / -11 )

Seems posters here have a serious lack of knowledge about Postpartum Depression.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

What this woman did was wrong but as a new mother I understand how she felt. Within the first few weeks after my child's birth I became very stressed and had horrible thoughts. My clinic made it clear from the moment we registered to give birth there that if I had these feelings to tell the nurses or family and friends immediately. They even urged us to call them if we needed to after leaving the hospital.

Whenever I had these thoughts I immediately woke my husband (these thoughts usually happened at night or early morning) to tell him I couldn't deal with things at the moment and needed some time to sleep and have my brain recover. He has been very supportive even now when on my sons bad days I feel that evil creeping back into me.

These women need to call for help as soon as they have these thoughts. I'm so glad this baby survived she is very lucky and I hope this woman gets the help she needs. I hope more clinics become like mine and let mothers and fathers know that help is needed when these thoughts happen. I am blessed with a supportive family I only hope the same for others.

11 ( +14 / -3 )

In this case, PPD does seem possible. But it shouldn't be an excuse.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Glad the daughter is safe. The mother and her newborn must have been just released from the hospital. The hospital stay is usually 5 or 6 days in Japan for giving birth.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

But this is Japan, she'll be released with just a warning.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

wasn't thinking much about raising a child during her trip to paradise. Leave the husband and child if she felt that way.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

she began feeling uneasy about her ability to raise a child.

Should have thought about that about 10 months ago..

3 ( +7 / -4 )

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