Woman admits faking baby illness

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A woman has admitted faking the illness of a baby girl which led to the child being admitted to hospital for a series of unnecessary operations.

Suzanne McDaid had been suffering from Munchausens Syndrome by Proxy and said the three-month-old was vomiting blood.

At the High Court in Glasgow, McDaid, form Paisley, admitted culpable and reckless conduct between October 2005 and May 2006.

Sentence on the 23-year-old was deferred for background reports.

The court heard how McDaid made her claims to staff at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley and Glasgow's Royal Hospital for Sick Children on numerous occasions.

Baby's clothes

Over a period of months, the baby underwent exploratory operations under a general anaesthetic.

Surgeons also tunnelled a feeding tube under her chin into her stomach and inserted a tube in a vein in her neck so that they could take regular blood samples and administer medication.

McDaid tried to make her story more believable by using a syringe to draw off blood so that she could spray it over the baby's clothes and mouth.

Neil Beardsmore, prosecuting, told the court that McDaid was suffering from Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy - a condition where people draw attention to themselves by faking illnesses in children.

Judge Lord Philip heard that McDaid's actions were revealed when her mother told police that her daughter had confessed.