Mother in court for alcohol and drug consumption during pregnancy

A 39-year-old woman from Rijsbergen has appeared in court. She is accused of attempting to kill her baby by consuming alcohol and drugs during her pregnancy. Omroep Brabant has reported.

The public prosecutor's office said the woman had taken drugs during the last five months of her pregnancy and had refused to contact authorities, including the regional health authority. Her three other children are in foster care.

“We have never taken legal action against a mother in this way,” the prosecutor said during the preliminary hearing on Friday.

The baby was born three months ago and is healthy.

In addition to alcohol, the woman regularly consumed party Drug GHB and the “zombie drug” Anti-aircraftwhich is smoked in a pipe. She also has, the court said, a toxic relationship with the baby's father.

The trial will take place in November, but the court ordered the woman and her baby to be released from prison and moved to a new safe house. She was also told to cooperate with social services and refrain from all drug and alcohol use.

The child protection service welcomed the decision to prosecute the mother, said broadcaster NOS. “It can lead to other mothers realising that what they are doing is illegal,” said spokeswoman Bianca Poldervaart. “But the most important thing is that we can help this mother.”

If the social services are concerned about the safety of an unborn child, they can ask the court to place the child under their care. This happens about 300 times a year. Although this woman had a social worker, she continued to use drugs, NOS said.

Leiden juvenile law professor Mariëlle Bruning told the broadcaster she understood the prosecutor's argument, but said a conviction would be complicated. “There is no legal basis for this,” she said. “The lawyers must extend the legal provisions to unborn children and the question of whether they are human or not.”