I don't think mandatory healthcare visits would help. The kind of people who would do this kind of thing to a child tend to be frighteningly adept at coming up with reasonable explanations for nearly anything.  Look at the Baby P case from the UK - that child was seen by a host of healthcare personnel and a variety of social workers before his death and it clearly didn't help. 

hi chemgal - is this the baby in Edmonton that I read about in this morning's paper?  Where she was on life support & court was involved in discontinuance? 

Child abuse is a complex situation, hard to understand for sure, and sadly never fully preventable for a myriad of reasons. 

Speaking for myself, I do not begrudge the parents spending time with her in hospital.

Remorse on the part of a person (parent) is not the same as repentance.

We need a discussion in this country on child abuse. It is clear to me that while it is not usually as bad as in this case, but that physical and sexual child abuse is a lot more common than we assume. It will take raising awarenss not just inside governements, but also neighbouirs, extended family, and evryone, to deal with it. How do you for example "report" a friend or neighbour  who may or may not be guilty?

Alex - I reported a neighbour once.  We weren't close at the time (just nodding and speaking when we met).  I saw her little girl coming and going to school, and out playing with her friends.  I also was vaguely aware that her single mother worked long hours, sometimes overnight, and that she was often alone with her teenage brother.  And I heard very disturbing things from other neighbours, including her after-school sitter.  I suggested to one that if she thought the child was being abused she should report it and she said, "I couldn't do that."   So I called.  I told what I had heard.  I admitted that I hadn't seen or heard it first hand.   But within a short time I noticed changes.  A female university student rented their spare room and spent time with the child.  She wasn't alone with her brother nearly so much.  And years later the mother, who I got to know better, told me that she had once been investigated. 

Another time I called about a family who had moved into our neighbourhood.  The three little children seemed neglected - inappropriately dressed, out wandering around the neighbourhood at odd hours, unsupervised, hungry  -, the parents seemed to have very poor parenting skills.    I was thanked and told that they were aware of and monitoring the family.   I had a feeling that my call was appreciated, and if I had seen anything more I would have felt comfortable to call again.

It is  a serious thing to remove a child from the family.  I fully agree with authorities working with the family to try to improve the situation.  I also think concerned neighbours, members of the extended family, babysitters, teachers, and others in the community have a responsibility towards our children.   And governments should make the safety and security of our children a priority - adequate income support for those who need it, day care, mommy&me programs, after school programs, playgrounds, clothing exchanges, parenting classes. 

Even then there will be those like BabyM that slip through the cracks.

Yes Carolla, that's the one.

This particular case is just beyond my comprehension.  There were two very young girls, who were beaten over a long period of time, starved and found on a urine soaked matress.  The twin who has been recovering cowered and cried in fear in the presence of her parents.

How did the parents even think they could use their religion to keep her suffering on life support?  If they really wanted her to live, she shouldn't have been starved to that point in the first place.

It's possible one of the spouses was abused as well, but how do they manage to let it get so bad without saying anything.

I really do feel that neither parent deserved spending time with Baby M.  Legally though, I can understand why the courts allowed it.

I've tried to read more to figure out what was going on in this family, but nothing seems to add up for me.  I could be wrong, but it sounds like the twin girls were cared for, but not fed properly.  The boy was fed, but still had a diet primarily of milk and couldn't feed himself at all.  The couple spoke little English and had no friends or family in the community, but at the same time they are in their 30s which would make me think that they SHOULD be more able to find support, even if they do have a language barrier.  I've heard the suggestion that maybe they were taking care of their son and neglecting their daughters for religious reasons, but he wasn't treated like a "little prince"...he was treated like an infant!  Overall, I just don't understand where the break down occurred.  I don't know if this abuse was due to deliberate neglect, gender bias, lack of knowledge or skills, lack of support or something else.  I hope that more information comes out in court, and I hope that protections are put in place for children who may be suffering from neglect.

I hadn't read those details.  Everything I've come up with just mentioned the nutritional deficits and that they weren't sure if the brain damage was due to physical abuse or not.

Interesting Mists, I'll see if I can dig up some of the stories as they are now a little old.  The informtion you've found sounds very different from what I've read.  Some of the info (like the mattress) did come from the paramedics.

http://www.globaltvcalgary.com/pages/story.aspx?id=6442715019

“Parents maintain that the girls were able to walk with assistance and could crawl before they fell down the stairs,” said a report by Kathy Wood, a Children and Family Services caseworker. “Medical evidence suggests that this could not be possible.”

The report also said the girls could not have been mobile three days before they arrived at the Stollery Children’s Hospital because one was comatose and the other was “hardly able to sit unsupported” after they were admitted.

It took 10 days of hospital care for the recovered child to even be able to walk, the report says. One of the girls had a bed sore that doctors believe was not consistent with a mobile child.

Also, the documents say that bruises on the girls heads were due to multiple impacts and not a single event.

The “dire nutritional state” of the girls developed over a period of weeks or months, not days, doctors believe.

In May, according to Wood’s report, police officers in the house noted the twins bedroom was nothing more than a mattress on the floor that smelled of urine.

This one is new to me, describes some odd behaviour by the father:

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/alberta/Edmonton+accused+abusing+twin+...

The devote Muslim has a dating profile while married?

I think I was also affected by this, as the area of the home looks like it might be within the block of where I live.  It's difficult to tell for sure though, as buildings start to look alike.

I'll try to go back to waiting until the facts come out like I usually do.  I am happy to hear that the sister is doing well!  Sorry, I couldn't find the article that mentioned her reaction to one of the parents (I think it was the mother?), but that one also stated how quickly she was improving with a bit of care and nourishment.

When I see stories like this in the media, I always think of these ones:

Vitamin D Deficiency Rickets: another shattered family

Motheroffive, I don't see the relationship with this case.  They looked for metabolic disorders and found none.  Baby M's twin was thriving after recieving care.

Child abuse situations are complicated. My first thought after reading this thread, is what supports did this family have? If they did not speak English well, that would suggest they are new to Canada. They may be alone and separated from family and supports. They may not have any idea about how to access help in this new country.

Having said that, I am not excusing abuse, just trying to understand it.

As for reporting suspected child abuse, we all have an obligation to report any suspected abuse. The child welfare people do not just swoop in and remove children. They do an investigation, and might also help provide supports for the family. Reporting a family can often help the child and family. How would you feel if you suspected abuse, and did not feel you could report, then found out the child had been severely injured or worse?

Sadly a great many people still feel that it is not their place to interfere in other people's 'private affairs'.  A great deal of child abuse and domestic abuse could probably be stopped, if not prevented outright, if more people would speak out to the authorities about what they see/hear.

Just an update.  The parents are being charged with second degree murder (I've only skimmed the article, I just heard it on the news playing in the background):

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/edmonton+parents+of+baby+m+facing+severa...

As for others not speaking out, it sounds like many neighbours had no idea the couple even had twin girls.  They barely saw the boy.

Update, if anyone else is interested:

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Father+Baby+pleads+guilty+manslaughter/97...