(Jamaica Gleaner) A 34-year-old woman who reported a bizarre toilet birth has denied allegations that she tried to kill the newborn.
Gaysharine Whyte, of New Road in Yallahs, St Thomas, claims to have been unaware that she was pregnant and has protested her innocence. Whyte alleges to have passed out what appeared to be a snake in a toilet last Saturday night.
The woman, according to information from the family and an official police report, ran away in fright.
The following morning, a man said to be of unsound mind was reportedly given a machete and told to kill what was believed to be a creature. However, when they entered the bathroom, a crying newborn was discovered in the toilet bowl.
The police were notified and the baby and her mother were taken to the Princess Margaret Hospital, where they were both admitted.
Hospital authorities have confirmed that the baby is in good health.
This is the third Jamaican child in a month that has survived being in a toilet just after birth after newborns were rescued in St Mary and St Ann in October.
Speaking with The Gleaner yesterday, Whyte, who is mother to another child, said that she might need counselling after what she described to be a traumatic event.
“I do pregnancy test two times and dem come out negative. Sometimes you see me belly big and shoot out, then at other times, it gone down flat. Every time I go to church, them say is a spiritual problem,” she said, admitting that she did not consult a doctor.
UNDER PRESSURE
Whyte, who was discharged from the Princess Margaret Hospital on Wednesday, revealed that she had come under withering criticism from members of her neighbourhood.
“They are creating rumours to tear me down. I was not trying to kill my baby. I have another daughter who I treat very well. Since Saturday, I’m with the baby every day. Everything just happen sudden on me, and now is the time for people to try and give me strength and not put me down because they don’t know what happen in my life.
“I am a good person and a good mom. … I love my baby and I’m sorry for what took place,” she told The Gleaner yesterday.
Whyte revealed that the baby, who remains in the hospital, is yet to be named.
Equally devastated by the encounter is Whyte’s mother, Barbara Graham, who gave insight into what happened on Saturday night.
“She did under some science business,” said Graham, referring to the Jamaican vernacular for sorcery. “She go church and dem tell her seh she have bad belly. Saturday in the day, she guh toilet, but then me hear she cry out, ‘Mommy!’ and mi run guh in the bathroom and mi hear something like puss in her chest a cry a come down,” she said, placing her hand on her chest and moving it downwards to her abdomen.
“Suh mi fraid and run out because mi never really experience dem something deh yet. Suh mi say, ‘Jesus Christ! A wah dat! And she a bawl because something drop outa her like a snake. … God almighty know we nuh go back inna the bathroom Saturday night, so Sunday morning we call a man, give him a machete and tell him to go look what in there.”
In the meantime, residents of New Road have expressed doubts about the veracity of Whyte’s story.
“It just don’t mek sense. Dem a liad and the two of them need fi gaw prison and the Government tek the baby,” said one of six residents who discussed the unusual event yesterday.
“Dat girl did know seh she pregnant because a weh day she pass me with big, big belly. Everybody did see that she pregnant. And if a mad man coulda see that it was a baby in the toilet, how come dem neva see?” another man lashed out.
The St Thomas police said that Whyte is to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
The Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA), which is investigating the matter, said that the matter of care and protection of the child will be brought before the court for a ruling.
The CPFSA is encouraging mothers to contact the CPFSA if they are undecided about caring for newborns, adding that the agency could place them in the formal adoption system.
The CPFSA can be contacted by calling 876-948-2841-2. Undecided mothers may ask to speak with a member of the Adoption Unit.
