Teenager 'froze' as baby drowned

A teenage girl who hid her pregnancy said she froze after secretly giving birth in a bath and was unable to pick up the baby, who then drowned.

The 17-year-old delivered the healthy boy in the early hours of October 19 last year in the bathroom of her family home in South Auckland.

The mother told police that after delivering the baby, she could not physically move or pick him up.

He was alive at birth but became submerged and drowned, a coroner's court was told yesterday.

The young woman, now 18, was supported by her mother and family friends at the inquest held at the Papakura District Court.

She came to New Zealand from the Cook Islands in 2003 and fell pregnant in 2005 during a brief relationship with another teenager.

The girl was from a traditional Island family and it was forbidden to have boyfriends or sex before marriage.

She hid the pregnancy out of shame and fear of "getting a hiding", the inquest was told.

She left Manurewa High School when the pregnancy became obvious and concealed it from family by wearing baggy clothing.

When she went into labour at home, with parents and extended family around, the girl told her mother she had her period.

She ran a bath to ease her back pain and sat in the water "enduring the labour pain", inquest officer Senior Constable Heather Ruddell told the court.

Around 2.30am, the girl gave birth to the baby, who drowned.

Around 5am, she took the baby from the bath, wrapped him in a T-shirt and placed him on her bed, where she covered him with more clothing.

"A short time later, [the girl] went to the bathroom ... and collapsed on to the floor," Ms Ruddell said.

Her grandmother called for an ambulance but the girl told ambulance officers she was not pregnant.

The truth was discovered during a pelvic examination at Middlemore Hospital and she then revealed the baby was at home.

Coroner Sarn Herdson said her written report on the death might include comments for anyone who found themselves in a similar situation.