Aries
Taurus
Gemini
Cancer
Leo
Virgo
Libra
Scorpio
Sagittarius
Capricorn
Aquarius
PiscesMom Kills Baby for Being 'Autistic' ... Is Postpartum Depression to Blame?
Stephanie Rochester, 34, says she thought her 6-month-old son was showing signs of autism. She had been employed as a counselor at a children's hospital for two years and had worked with autistic kids.
On Memorial Day evening, she suffocated her son, Rylan Rochester, by putting blankets over his head, reports the Denver Channel.
Stephanie confessed to killing Rylan, saying, "When you have a child with autism ... your life is ruined ... financially and emotionally."
Doctors and nurses who have evaluated Rylan said he was developmentally normal and was never diagnosed with autism, according to the affidavit.
Before her arrest, Stephanie told a police detective that she believes she is suffering from postpartum depression.
The signs of postpartum depression are:
- Anxiety
- Panic attacks
- Spontaneous crying
- Difficulty sleeping
- Lack of interest in the new child
- Mood swings
- Delusions about the child
- Hallucinations
- Hearing voices
- Psychosis
This story just makes us sick. Our hearts break for little Rylan.
Do you think postpartum depression or postpartum psychosis was to blame for his death ... or was this mom just selfish?
- share:
-
-
-
more:
- |
- 40 Comments
Filicide types are listed here:
I don’t think she has PPD, I think she is a selfish sicko.
I feel very badly for this child but also for the mother. She worked with people who had autistic children and watched how much they struggle both financially(fighting insurance companies is not easy and that’s IF you even have insurance) and emotionally. Our daughter has high functioning autism and without the 6 therapists a week I have no idea what we would do. Our daughter is able to function almost like a normal child now because of this BUT most families do have this type of help. Most families struggle every day, it’s a hard and difficult thing to do. I think this mom may have become paranoid because of the emotionally difficult job she had. It’s sad she was not able to get help before hurting her own child:(
I meant to say most families DO NOT have the help our family has been fortunate to receive.
I have a 9yr old autistic child. I homeschool him and after 19yrs working, I have nothing to show for it as so much money has been spent on my son. We went from a 415k house to a rented apt and living day to day…I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.
She is one selfish woman…I had ppd…I cried everyday when my baby was little…I felt I lived in a fog…I barely remember many days…I did NOT kill my child!
Nancy, it’s great that you did not kill your child BUT maybe your situation or depression or paranoia did not get to that point, some people do and they don’t know how to ask for help or don’t recognize the signs.
hmmm but I agree with Nancy. PPD is all too often used as an excuse. If we all killed someone when we got depressed what would the world be like? No…she had severe problems anyway. It IS a selfish thing to do…no way around that. She was thinking of how difficult it was to have an autistic child. Or perhaps that was her excuse. Maybe she’s making it all up. There is no way to know. I do know depression isn’t an excuse for murder.
The bottom 3 signs listed in the article are symptoms of PostPartum PSYCHOSIS NOT PostPartum Depression. There is a HUGE difference.
I Have a 20 year old son, that is
more on the severe level of the autism spectrum, and yes autism has consumed my husband and my life and always will. It has been a very hard mental and financial struggle all these years, and there is more known about autism and treatments now than 20 years ago. I also had PPD for about a year after my son was born, but i never would take my son’s life, ever, because i care more about my son than i do myself. My son will always come first in mine and my husband’s life. He was a gift from GOD.
This woman cares more about herself than her child. Also, at 6months autism is not prevalent until the child is about 18months-2years. This women working with these children who were autistic, her job may have made her paranoid and she may have seen things in her baby that were really not there.
as a nurse myself you can never compare one person to the other, and I have seen numerous autistic children and none of them are the same on the Autism Spectrum Scale. I hope she gets help and she pays for what she has done. I feel NO empathy for this selfish person.
Most women with Postpartum Depression do not kill their babies. Postpartum Psychosis, however, carries a higher risk factor (up to 5%) of infanticide/filicide/suicide. Postpartum Psychosis involves a break with reality while Postpartum Depression does not. It is ALSO important to note that Postpartum Psychosis is an absolute medical emergency. Anytime Psychosis is suspected, the mother should not be left alone with herself or her children.
It’s also important to note that the following symptoms as listed are NOT symptoms of Postpartum Depression but of Psychosis:
# Delusions about the child
# Hallucinations
# Hearing voices
# Psychosis
There is a Perinatal Mood Disorder, Postpartum OCD, in which a mom has what are called “intrusive thoughts.” BUT a mom with PP OCD is immediately disgusted with these thoughts where as a mom with Psychosis is unable to distinguish right from wrong - believing the thoughts make perfect logical sense.
I am very disappointed in momlogic for misrepresenting the facts about Postpartum Depression in this article. Despite what the mother stated to detectives, a clarification of the different types of disorders is in order for this article.
I grieve for Rylan, his family, and the horrible pain they all must be in right now. It is always tragic when a child loses his life but even more so when a parent is the cause.
Warmest,
Lauren Hale
my son is autistic, not severley, but suffocating him? omg, my heart cries for this lil boy.. what ignorance..
I don’t see evidence of delusions, hallucinations, or a break from reality from the news reports. All I see is a very selfish woman.
Reports have said that that the mother told the detective that the night before she killed the baby, she and her husband had talked about wanting to have “fun” in their lives, and that she didn’t think it was possible to have a fun life with an autistic child.
That’s cold and calculating, not delusional.
Here is one of the news reports where it is mentioned: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jkm16rkE8Lime9OAeALa_xwpQmoQD9G777CG0
Prayers for the father and the baby.
I agree, Moggies Mom, I saw the news reports also, and I do not believe she has Post pardom Psychosis. She worked as a councelor in a hospital with these children around Dr.’s,and Psychiatrist, she has enough expierance to know what to say and knows the symptoms so she blame what she did on that. I hope she is punished to the full extent of the law, and can never have that “fun” life she wanted. I really feel sad for the baby, hope he did not suffer, hope she does though. Another thing, my son is severely autistic, but developed normally up until he was about 18 months old. He even started talking at 8 months, but that stopped and now only has very minimal one word speech. At 6 months you can not tell if the child is autistic, it is too soon the child has not reached that type of developement where it is noticeable. It’s sad that this child was probally normal, and if he was autistic, DEAL WITH IT. He deserves a chance in life. There is alot more help out there today than there was 20 years ago. Early intervention is important and your child has the right for free education. All schools have to do this, it is your childs right, and is the law. She could have gotten help for this child ,if he was even autistic guess we will never know.
For everyone on here - Do not judge her. She was the sweetest person I have ever met. If you want to do anything with this story, educate new moms with this sick disease. She was mentally not well - yes, she was educated with children that are autistic and LOVED each and everyone of them. She completely went crazy because of postpartum. If you did not know her, shut the hell up and maybe tell other mothers about this disease instead of sitting around judging her. Rylan is in heaven - pray for the family and her husband if you have all this down time.
I have twin boys both are Autistic and this story just makes me SICK! Yes…Autistic kids are a struggle but more they are a Blessing from GOD. I hope she gets the death penalty for what she has done.
Families with autistic children suffer emotionally and financially. No body can fully understand this until they have a loved one with that disorder.
I actually considered not having children of my own out of fear of having an autistic child.
I have a lot of admiration for families of kids with special needs. They may suffer, but they pull together and make it through a rewarding life.
This woman needed help. Sought out help, but never got it before it was too late. Very tragic.
To: do not judge, Of course you know her or you would not defend her. Your opinion is prejudiced because of this. I pray for her husband and hope he was not in on the murder of this child. But, I hope she get’s what is coming to her, and when she stands before God in the end she will.
This women clearly had delusions. She is someone that worked with autistic kids for a living and therefore would undoubtedly know that you can’t see any signs of autism in a child below the age of 2 (1 at the very least). And yet, though she was given a clear bill of health from docs who checked the child over, she still persisted in believing that he was severely autistic. Folks, delusional doesn’t simply mean someone thinks they are Jesus, it means having or holding to beliefs that are not rooted in reality.
Please educate yourself on postpartum psychosis before passing judgment about whether or not this woman suffered from it. Having been through it, I can easily see how she could very likely have been delusional - in fact, I’d bet 10 to 1 that she is found to have been suffering from postpartum psychosis.
I have two autistic sons who are now in their teens. I get so much pity from people who think having an autistic child is horrible and a burden. My 13 yr old is severe and I get the most pity about him.
It makes me sick that people think autistic children are so awful. My sons are super fun and way less dramatic or idiotic than normal teenagers. They are quirky and sometimes downright weird, but life isn’t about control. It’s about rolling with the punches.
I never see anything positive about autistic children on tv. It’s all about this plague on the nation and how much a burden these kids are and about fake cures. This woman fed into that lie and decided to take the selfish way out. If she were truly suffering from psychosis, it’s highly doubtful that she would know it. She explained the reason she killed Rylan clear enough in her confession - she didn’t want an autistic child because he would be a burden. The fact that her son was normal doesn’t change the fact that she had a child to make her happy and she figured Rylan wouldn’t do that.
What? No uproar rom moms of autistic kids.