We have been left shocked and heartbroken by the stories of injuries, deaths and maltreatment at day care centres around the world in recent times, and one US mum’s experience is really hitting a nerve this morning.

 

Amber Scorah lost her three-month-old son Karl this year when he passed away during his very first day at day care. Now, the devastated mother has opened up about her ordeal in a hard-hitting article for the New York Times.

 

In the piece, Amber recalls how she and her husband had discussed the subject of day care at length and looked into the possibility of giving up work to care for their son at home. After much back and forth, the couple finally decided to send Karl to a highly-recommended day care facility in the city.

 

 

Tragedy struck during Amber’s very first day back to work however, when she stopped by the centre to feed little Karl at lunchtime. Amber walked in to find her baby “unconscious, splayed out on a soft changing table” and receiving CPR incorrectly from the day care owner; just 20 minutes later, the tot had passed away.

 

With the medical examiner still unable to determine the cause of death, Amber is naturally plagued by questions.

 

“What is determined is that at 11:50am the day care assistant saw my baby kicking his legs and brought it to the attention of the day care owner. The day care owner dismissed the assistant, telling her not to go over to check him. ‘Babies kick their legs in their sleep all the time,’ she said,” wrote Amber.

 

 

The distraught mother added: “Twenty minutes later, my baby was dead. If the day care assistant had gone over and picked him up, checked on him, would Karl be alive? I don’t know. The day care owner had also put Karl down to sleep on his side, which is a known unsafe sleep position. Had he been put down on his back to sleep, would he be alive? I don’t know.”

 

These questions aside, Amber goes on to explain that her motivation behind writing the candid piece was to address the stringency of maternity leave policies.

 

“What this article is about is that my infant died in the care of a stranger, when he should have been with me. Our culture demanded it. A mother should never have no choice but to leave her infant with a stranger at three months old if that decision doesn’t feel right to her,” she added.

 

What are your thoughts?

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