Newborn killed in driveway accident

The baby is taken away after the accident. Photo / Herald on Sunday

A newborn baby was killed in a tragic driveway accident that left a woman screaming "the baby is dead".

The baby was just four weeks old when mother Vivianne Wood, aged 20, pulled into a Titirangi driveway to visit friends Jasmine Faulkner and Ashley Semmens.

A neighbour said she heard "hysterical screaming" just after 1.30pm.

"I heard screaming and I looked outside. I saw a lady screaming hysterically and I thought she was on drugs," she said.

"She started hitting the BMW, smashing it with something like a crowbar. A couple of guys came out and moved the car away and picked her up and took her inside.

"She was hysterical with grief, screaming the baby was dead."

Police and paramedics were called to the Kaurilands Rd address that Wood was visiting but it was too late to save the baby.

It is not clear how the newborn was struck but Wood was also injured by the silver, old-model BMW about 1.40pm.

Police dispatchers told officers on their way to the home that a car had rolled, injuring the mother and running over the child.

There was speculation that the car had rolled backwards while the mother was behind it, and then she was struck and injured by the car, causing her to lose her grip on the baby, who fell under the car's wheels.

But Waitemata Serious Crash Unit Sergeant Stu Kearns said it was too early to be sure what happened.

He said the car was not running at the time of the incident.

"The mother was getting out of the car with the baby. The child was struck by the vehicle but we're not sure what happened. It is still very early."

Kearns said officers were still compiling witness statements. He said the baby's father was not believed to have been at the house at the time.

A relative of Wood said she also had a 2-year-old son and it is understood he was with her when the incident occurred.

After paramedics halted efforts to resuscitate the baby, police taped off the property until a tow truck removed the BMW.

A steady stream of friends and relatives arrived at the address during the afternoon. They sought consolation in each other, crying and hugging.

A representative of local Maori arrived about 5.30pm to bless the house before an undertaker went in to take the newborn from her family. He carried a small dark box and a white sheet up the stairs to the front door.

As the box was carried to the hearse police and family members gathered to support Wood.

She and other family gathered behind the hearse and embraced as the baby was driven away.

Kearns said police hoped to speak to Wood again over the next few days but would not be drawn on what he thought happened at the property.

Ann Weaver, director of child injury prevention service Safekids, said while the accident was unusual in terms of the age of the child involved, it served as a reminder of the importance of being vigilant around cars on driveways.

"I think it's time that all adults really remember how vulnerable children are and that cars and children don't mix," she said.

New Zealand Council of Midwives spokeswoman Hayley McMurtrie said the incident was a "horrific tragedy". "Any child is at risk around cars, but it is unusual to have an infant in this situation."

Grief counsellor Chris Caruana said witnesses to such a tragedy would be "in a state of shock and disbelief for quite some time".

"I can't think of anything worse and my condolences go to the family."

Caruana said: "It has a tremendous impact on parents blaming themselves and it has an impact on relationships tremendously. The ripple effects are huge."

He said people involved in such tragedies needed support - even though they might feel the need to isolate themselves.

"It has to be a time of coming together and being there for the rest of the family."

- Additional reporting: Joseph Barratt, Rebecca Lewis, Kieran Nash, Alice Neville