Sad News: Newborn found dead on Carnival Dream

[FoxyTerrier]

I saw this report on today's morning news.

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44916997

 

Very sad and disturbing.

[RuthC]

Yes, very disturbing. So many questions....

[Krazy Kruizers]

I just read this elsewhere -- very sad.

But so many questions need to be answered.

[taxmantoo]

Very sad indeed. The HAL rules are quite clear and I imagine all cruise lines would be similar. Was it a case of non enforcement on the part of the cruise line or non compliance on the part of the passenger? Or a really premature delivery? Many unanswered questions...

 

Women cannot have begun their 24th week of pregnancy at any time before or during the cruise. If you are pregnant or sailing with a guest who is pregnant they must provide a physician’s letter stating the expected due date, medical fitness to travel and the pregnancy is not high risk. Please also include your name, booking number, ship and sailing date.

[Randyk47]

Very sad and bizarre at the same time. :(

[jkrislc]

I'm curious how the AP is defining "newborn" since I believe Carnival requires infants to be six months old to sail. I suppose it's possible that the infant was born on the cruise (e.g., where the mom gave birth in the bathroom at prom). What's most disturbing is that the steward found the infant and not the parent, which raises serious suspicions.

 

Not only is it extremely sad that an infant died, but it must have been traumatic for the steward to discover. I hope Carnival has a program to assist him/her if he/she was traumatized by this discovery.

[eh2zed]

Very disturbing. I imagine we will hear about this further

[sail7seas]

I heard about it on the news this morning....

so sad and so many questions.

 

I thought women more than 24 weeks (depending upon cruiseline rules) could not board a cruise ship. A baby born early at that age possibly be viable in the best of medical circumstances? So one wonders if the baby was viable age at birth?

 

I also thought an infant under a certain number of months was not permitted to sail so how could a tiny baby have been brought aboard?

So how did this baby even get on the ship?

 

Maybe I have all of this upside down but I do have those questions.

 

In any case, it's so sad to hear about this.

[RuthC]

I also thought an infant under a certain number of months was not permitted to sail so how could a tiny baby have been brought aboard?

So how did this baby even get on the ship?

There's all sorts of scenarios for that to have played out. Pretty much none of them good, either.

[Jo-Bob]

Deleted

[mamaofami]

Very sad and confusing. A baby at 24 weeks might be viable, but might need lots of medical attention to survive. We did all read here a few weeks ago about someone who wanted to lie about how far along she was in her pregnancy so she could sail, so anything is possible. Perhaps the mother had a miscarriage. Very disturbing is where is the mother? Was she sailing alone? If it was the mother who was detained in St. Martin, why was that? We're going to have to wait for answers until the FBI concludes it's investigation. Tragic.

[kazu]

wow, sad, disturbing and scary. I'm sure we will hear more later

[Swelldame]

Someone at the AP needs to be strung up for a headline like that.

[reefisher]

Someone at the AP needs to be strung up for a headline like that.[/quote Those were my thoughts. I am at least glad that no names have been released, pending full inquiry.

[Himself]

This is very sad to hear. I have a lot of questions.

[piscesgal223]

Really shocking...and there's more questions than answers.That's what bugs me the most. I'm sure the whole story will come out eventually though.

[AmyinVail]

I would guess that the 20 year old either didn't know she was pregnant or knew she was, but didn't want anyone to know. Gave birth, hid the dead newborn with hopes nobody would find it....but, the steward did. I admit I watch too much television and certainly hope this isn't the case, but - with the age of the "detained woman", the baby was dead and left alone....leads me to my suspicions of the above. I agree with another poster...how tragic to come across such a horrible sight. I hope the steward has the tools available to him/her to handle such a situation. tragic.

[kakalina]

Very sad to hear indeed. I feel deeply for the steward that made the discovery, how terrible for him/her. I wonder if we will ever hear the rest of the story.

[nothriver]

Very tragic for everyone involved. I too feel very sad for the stewart that found the infant. So many of the crew work for months so far from their own families, it must have been devestating to find this infant.

[airlink diva]

This is so sad!

I know that it was shocking for the cabin steward to find a dead newborn. I sailed on the Dream last month and about half of the cabin stewards are women. My cabin steward CC was a mom working for her family.

Until the final report come out, we won't know if the girl knew she was with child or not.

As for the cruiseline knowing, I had a co-worker years ago who had no belly until the last month. We found out three weeks after she went on leave that she had a baby. She had a flat tummy and was still loading planes. Some women don't show and I'm willing this was the case

[KirkNC]

Very sad.

 

Kirk

[bcd2010]

As for the cruiseline knowing, I had a co-worker years ago who had no belly until the last month. We found out three weeks after she went on leave that she had a baby. She had a flat tummy and was still loading planes. Some women don't show and I'm willing this was the case

 

Sometimes overweight women don't really show much either. Here's a little more info - http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20111017/NEWS01/310170014/Mother-dead-baby-found-cruise-ship-return-Port-Canaveral-today

 

The 20-year old mother of a dead newborn found on the Carnival Dream cruise ship has been interviewed by authorities and should return to Port Canaveral today, FBI Special Agent Dave Couvertier said Sunday.

A crew member discovered the dead baby Wednesday morning in a guest stateroom, Couvertier said. Carnival personnel reported the death to Dutch authorities in St. Maarten, and Dutch authorities took custody of the infant's body.

The mother, who has not been identified, is a U.S. passenger. She was questioned in St. Maarten.

FBI investigators searched two guest cabins Saturday morning after the ship returned to Port Canaveral. They also interviewed crew members and passengers.

“Due to the international and jurisdictional aspects involved with this incident, we are still working on obtaining facts and specific details about the matter,” Couvertier wrote in an email.

“No one has been charged as we are still working on obtaining facts and gathering any available evidence,” he stated.

[woodofpine]

Jurisdiction - the scholastically most multi-rooted tree in the legal forrest... And these psycho-momma infant mortality cases are bizzaro enough without that weirdness. Some vacation!

[Host Walt]

Please continue the discussion in the thread titled: FBI Investigating Dead Newborn Found on Carnival Cruise Ship on the Carnival Board.