A 25-year-old mother has been charged with murder after feeding her baby breast milk diluted with water.
Lauren Fristed, a woman from the US, reportedly could not afford to buy formula to feed her 10-week-old baby daughter, and resorted to diluting her own breast milk with water.
It was a fatal decision for 10-week-old Nevaeh, who died of water intoxication just days later.
Diluting breast milk, known as ‘formula stretching’, is a dangerous – and in Nevaeh’s case, fatal – practice of diluting formula or breast milk with other substances, such as water, milk or juice. This practice can lead to problems with development, memory and behaviour in children.
In Nevaeh’s case, she was consuming twice as much water as she was milk, causing her sodium and electrolyte levels to rise dangerously, and her brain to swell.
The detective who investigated the case described Nevaeh’s condition as skeletal when he appeared in court.
“[She was] just really skinny, didn’t look healthy,” said Detective Charles Hamrick, “I rolled the baby over on her back, there was no baby fat, the back bone was protruding out.”
Ms Fristed, and her husband George Landell, who has also been charged with murder, were reported to be ‘highly religious’ by the detective. The original arrest report stated that Fristed and Landell lived in ‘unsanitary conditions’ and their daughter often had ‘poor hygiene’.
Hamrick added that Lauren had brought up her concerns with Nevaeh’s weight and condition with Landell, her ‘spiritual adviser’, but he had dismissed her. Refusing to let her seek medical treatment for their daughter, Landell instead chose to pray for her.
Landell confessed that on the day of her death he repeatedly prayed for her and tried to force feed her, but she was already dead.
Fristed and her husband have been charged with felony murder, cruelty to children and aggravated battery.
