A 15-day-old infant was put inside a refrigerator by his 23-year-old mother, who was suffering from postpartum psychosis (PPP) in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad. Due to the extreme cold inside the refrigerator, when the infant started crying out loud, his grandmother rushed to the spot and was shocked to find him in the refrigerator. He was rescued safely, and doctors informed us that he is out of danger. Postpartum psychosis (PPP) is a rare and severe mental illness that can affect people who have recently given birth.
On September 5, a young woman, a resident of Jabbar Colony in Moradabad, who had recently given birth to a child around a fortnight ago, was upset after her infant was restless and crying. After multiple attempts to soothe the child, when the infant continued to cry, it irked the woman. She went to the kitchen, put the baby inside the refrigerator, and returned to her room to sleep.
Moments later, when the infant’s grandmother heard cries coming from the kitchen, she rushed to check and found the baby inside the refrigerator. The infant was immediately taken to a nearby hospital, where doctors informed that he was out of danger and healthy.
Subsequently, when the woman’s family members questioned her about the act, she gently said, “He was not sleeping, so I put him inside the refrigerator.” Over her calm response, the family suspected something unusual and took her to a local occult practitioner the next day, where she was counselled, but no change was spotted in her behaviour.
When the family consulted her behaviour with relatives, they were advised to visit doctors. As advised, they then took her to a psychiatric doctor, who diagnosed her illness as postpartum psychiatric psychosis.
On the topic, Dr. Jyotsna Mehta, a renowned gynaecologist and obstetrician from Lucknow, said that postpartum psychiatric disorders must be treated as medical emergencies.
“The Moradabad case is tragic, but it is not isolated. Many new mothers suffer silently because families and even frontline health workers miss the early signs,” Dr. Mehta said, as quoted by News18. “Baby blues are common, but when a woman starts behaving unusually, loses touch with reality, or expresses harmful thoughts, it is a red flag. Immediate psychiatric care is essential. Delay in treatment can be life-threatening for both mother and child,” she added.
