“Baby Sitter Charged After Infant Suffers Injuries - KCCI.com” plus 4 more

Baby Sitter Charged After Infant Suffers Injuries - KCCI.com
Health care 'beefing up' for baby boomers - Explore Baltimore County
Dead baby's mother: Murder defendant loved his child - Orlando Sentinel
Man sentenced to 18 years for baby's death - Post-Bulletin
Newborn care class offered during October - Capital City Weekly

Baby Sitter Charged After Infant Suffers Injuries - KCCI.com

Posted: 30 Sep 2009 01:17 PM PDT

POSTED: 3:20 pm CDT September 30, 2009
UPDATED: 4:34 pm CDT September 30, 2009

DES MOINES, Iowa -- A Des Moines baby sitter was charged Tuesday with child endangerment after police said an infant in her care was critically hurt.

Mellissa Watts, 34, was charged Tuesday. Police said she cared for 4-month-old Emiliano Ramirez.

Police said that on Sept. 15 Ramirez' grandma picked him up from the baby sitter and noticed medical problems. The grandmother and parents took the infant to Blank Children's Hospital.

Police said doctors determined that Ramirez had suffered brain injuries. The infant underwent brain surgery and was released to his parents two weeks later.

Police said the infant is being closely monitored at this time for any medical changes.

Look for updates on this developing story on KCCI-TV and here on KCCI.com.

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Health care 'beefing up' for baby boomers - Explore Baltimore County

Posted: 30 Sep 2009 05:39 AM PDT

When the baby boomers are old and gray, Union Memorial Hospital and Keswick Multi-Care Center will be ready.

Keswick and Union Memorial are financing $6,000-per-year stipends for students at the University of Maryland School of Social Work, in Baltimore, to work for the north Baltimore two facilities four days a week.

The Geriatric Health Social Work Initiative began with the start of the school year and includes local supervision by Gary Franklin, a clinical instructor hired by the university.

His position as well is funded by the hospital and Keswick.

The six students in field placements this school year are in their second year of the university's two-year Master of Social Work program. Next year, up to eight students will be placed at Keswick and Union Memorial.

Officials of the university, Keswick and Union Memorial say theirs is a unique collaboration that may become a national model, reflecting the impact that the aging population will have on health care, and on "psycho-social" side effects for elderly patients and their families.

"They're beefing up for the baby boomers," said Union Memorial spokeswoman Debra Schindler.

At a news conference to announce the new agreement Sept. 24, officials from the three institutions cautioned that more than 25 percent of the U.S. population will be 65 and older by 2034, compared to 13 percent now.

People age 85 and older are the fastest growing segment of the population, they said.

"I understand that Hallmark will sell 100,000 'Happy 100th Birthday' cards this year," said Richard Barth, dean of the university's School of Social Work.

The collaboration is the brainchild of Barbara Brody, a UM instructor and field liaison for the School of Social Work.

Brody, of Guilford, also serves on the Board of Directors of Keswick.

"I think it's going to be very successful," she said. "It would be nice if it would be expanded to other hospitals."

The social work initiative is a natural fit for Union Memorial and Keswick because many people go from the hospital to Keswick for rehabilitation or long-term care.

The partnership also serves as a good public relations tool because many students in health care don't think of social work or gerontology as exciting careers.

Said Keswick Chief Executive Officer Libby Bowerman, "It's hard to recruit social workers. They don't realize it's family work, (not) one old person."

"We don't want to turn the next generation away from health care," said Brad Chambers, president of Union Memorial. "Who's going to take care of this aging population? This is a good investment in health care for our community."

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Dead baby's mother: Murder defendant loved his child - Orlando Sentinel

Posted: 30 Sep 2009 02:00 PM PDT

SANFORD - A Winter Springs man now on trial, charged with shaking his baby to death, was "a great" father who was at the hospital when his daughter was born, took her to doctor appointments and liked to buy her gifts, the child's mother testified Wednesday.

Defendant Ventrel Gammons, 23, loved his daughter, the child's tearful mother, Melissa Diller, 21, told jurors.

Gammons is on trial, charged with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse. Assistant State Attorney Anna Valentini told jurors that Gammons shook the baby to death one evening while her mother was at work.

Samiyah, 2 ½ months old, was fine when her mother put her in her playpen just before 5 p.m. on May 17, 2007, then left for work at a Winter Springs sandwich shop. About two hours later, the baby stopped breathing, Valentini said.

The child's mother described Gammons as a gentle, easy-going man. He worked full-time at a Sam's Club but helped her care for the baby, she said.

"What kind of father was he with Samiyah?" asked defense attorney James Sweeting.

"A great one," said Diller, wiping tears from her eyes.

He was never violent with her and never with the baby, she said.

Sweeting told jurors the baby's death was a tragedy, but he said there is no evidence Gammons abused her.

It's not even clear, Sweeting said, that her death was anything but "an accident or misfortune."

However, doctors are expected to testify that the child's injuries were no accident. She suffered severe brain damage shortly before she stopped breathing, a time when Gammons was the only person with her.

An Orlando doctor, trying that night to save the child, concluded that the injuries could only have come from a severe shaking. Inside her skull, the child's brain had bled and blood vessels behind her eyes had ruptured.

A medical examiner concluded the baby was a homicide victim.

Two days after she stopped breathing, the child was removed from life support and died.

Gammons told investigators he didn't know what happened to the child that evening. Diller had called from work to check on them, and Gammons told her he had given the baby a bottle, and she had finished it, Diller testified. In the background, Diller said, she could hear the baby cooing.

But Gammons then called her about 7 p.m., she told jurors.

"He said she wouldn't wake up and her lips were turning blue," Diller said. She had him check for a pulse, and he found one. She then told him to call her grandfather for help, and he did.

Diller said she and Gammons had a happy, stable life together with no history of domestic violence.

After Samiyah's death, they remained a couple and conceived another child, Gammon's attorney said.

Gammons was not arrested until six months after the baby's death.

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Man sentenced to 18 years for baby's death - Post-Bulletin

Posted: 30 Sep 2009 05:46 AM PDT

By Janice Gregorson
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN

There was little for Edwin Henry White to say.

Edwin White Several weeks ago, he testified about how his actions caused the death of his infant daughter.

On Tuesday, the 25-year-old Byron man was back in court, ready to be sentenced. He was expecting an 18-year prison sentence, one of the terms of his plea agreement. He won't be eligible for supervised release until he's served 12 years.

"I am tired," he told Olmsted District Judge Kevin Lund. "I lost my daughter in trying to take care of her the best I could. I am just tired."

White was charged with unintentional second-degree murder on July 10, accused of suffocating his infant daughter, Carlee Jade, on May 15 while trying to get her to stop crying. He pleaded guilty Aug. 10.

His attorney, Bill Wright, told Lund that White is "extremely remorseful."

"He feels extreme guilt and will have to live with it the rest of his life," Wright said. The 2 1/2-month-old baby's death was unintentional, he said.

Wright told Lund that White is from Guatemala, was abandoned by his birth family and was adopted. Wright said White and his wife suffer from mental illness.

After the baby was born, Wright said, White was the sole care provider because he wife had post-partum depression.

On the night Carlee died, Wright said, White was exhausted. The baby was agitated. Wright said White put her on her stomach on a pillow, something that had worked in the past to quiet the baby.

"But it didn't help," Wright said. White put his hand on her head, which ended in her suffocation, Wright said. "He was trying to settle her down and in the process caused her death.

"This is something that will be a nightmare for him. He will be punished emotionally the rest of his life."

Prosecutor Jim Martinson said few cases make less sense than the death of an infant.

"It was clear he didn't intentionally kill the infant," Martinson told the judge. "But clearly, the act (of putting his hand on the baby's head) was done knowing it could have an adverse effect."

Martinson said the infant was the victim of ongoing abuse.

White's wife, mother, other relatives and friends filled the courtroom as a show of support.

Lund followed the plea agreement and sentenced White to 216 months in prison, 18 years. He will receive credit for time served since his arrest. He was fined $50.

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Newborn care class offered during October - Capital City Weekly

Posted: 30 Sep 2009 08:30 AM PDT

JUNEAU - A course called "Breastfeeding Success and Newborn Care" will be offered at Bartlett Regional Hospital during the month of October.

Classes will be held Mondays Oct. 5, 12, and 26 from 6-8:15 p.m. in the Bartlett Regional Hospital classrooms in the Robert F. Valliant Administration Building. There will be no class on Oct.19.

These free classes are designed for expectant parents to learn about the care, feeding and brain development of their new baby.

For more information and to register, call 796-8422.