Mother confesses to poisoning ailing baby

The toddler, who was born prematurely, had been admitted to Dunedin Hospital in August that year after contracting bronchitis.

She mixed tetrahydrozoline and sertraline into milk and bottle-fed the baby.

Hours later the child had to be airlifted to Auckland’s Starship Children’s Hospital after he suddenly became floppy and unresponsive, with a dangerously low heart rate. The baby suffered brain damage during this time and had to be placed in an induced coma.

At the time, doctors had no idea what had caused the toddlers health to decline so bad.

The boy’s father was warned to “prepare for the worst”.

The woman continued to her research on her phone, her searches included: “How the chemical in eyedrops attacks your body if swallowed and can potentially kill you”.

Two days later the mother gave the boy another dangerous concoction of toxins, causing his health to decline even further.

It wasn’t until the boy’s father caught the woman “tampering with the feeding tube” that doctors were able to figure out the cause of his illness.

The man said his partner may have suffered from Munchausen syndrome – a rare disorder in which a person fakes illness.

He said the woman has also been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.

The woman pleaded guilty to two charges of ill-treatment of a child by administering various substances in the High Court of Auckland last week.

She has been remanded in custody and is due to be sentenced in May.