New York woman holding baby falls from 8th floor to her death

[Dpm12]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/14/justice/new-york-baby-mother-fall/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

A woman plunged to her death from the eighth floor of an apartment building in New York, with her baby clutched in her arms.

The 10-month-old boy miraculously survived and was in critical but stable condition at a Harlem hospital Thursday, police said.

A New York police spokesman confirmed that the woman left behind a suicide note behind.

Bystanders were shocked when they saw the 45-year-old mother fall Wednesday afternoon.

"I wish I never witnessed that," Steven Dominguez told CNN affiliate WPIX. "It's disturbing, and horrible. The baby bounced off her chest onto the floor, face down and was crying. My mother tried to pick up the baby, but there was already a detective there."

Earlier, neighbor said he heard yelling coming from the woman's apartment before she fell.

The woman was arguing with a man, said Christian Johnson, a neighbor.

"I came home, they were arguing," Johnson told WPIX. "I actually stopped to listen, and I heard screaming and the baby was crying. He just kept saying why wouldn't you pick up the phone, why would you put that stress on me? Why wouldn't you pick up the phone, why, why? He was screaming, 'why, why'?"

Police did not release the name of the victim, but neighbors said she was a lawyer and was married.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Horrifying, and devastatingly sad. :^(

[Melinda]

2. Oh how I hope Duers won't pass judgment on this poor woman until all facts are in...

I see a mother with a young baby, a suicide, and many questions asked until the what and why of it all are known. In the meantime, prayers for the little one and its father - her husband.

Absolutely horrifying. Heartbreaking.

[get the red out]

3. Exactly

She could have suffered some kind of mental breakdown, depression; we don't know.

[Melinda]

5. Post-partum is what jumped in my mind, however, I can't conclude anything at this point.

And I'm happy to learn you feel the same. Thank you, red

[Oilwellian]

4. It's very hard NOT to pass judgement

Her baby is in critical condition because of her. I have no empathy for any woman who tries to kill her baby. Sorry.

[Glitterati]

6. How do you know she wasn't pushed out?

Don't jump to conclusions that she jumped. There was clearly a heated argument in process, and you don't know that he shoved her and she went out the window with the baby in her arms.

We KNOW nothing except that she went out that window with the baby in her arms.

[elehhhhna]

14. the 12 page suicide note and treatment for severe postpartum?

the info's out there.

[Glitterati]

15. NOW it is

when I posted that, it wasn't.

[Melinda]

8. I understand this...

it's instinctual, imo, to want to make an immediate declarative statement of some kind when one learns of any horror; heck I just made one, didn't I. I just know we don't have all the facts yet, and so I'm hoping we can at least try to NOT say things we may be forced to retract until it is known exactly what happened - if that's even possible. I hope it is.

I appreciate your pov and post, and I understand your reaction. Thanks.

[srican69]

7. my classmate jumped off the 30th floor just a couple months ago .. no one

would have guessed ...

she was a super cheerful girl .....

my point is that ..a lot of this just doesnt make sense ...it just leaves a ton of pain behind

[Melinda]

9. More information - lots more.

NY Daily News[/link

Sources say Harlem lawyer Cynthia Wachenheim penned a 13-page, handwritten suicide note before jumping out of an eighth-story window, taking her son, Keston, with her. The baby was saved from the impact when the woman landed on her back on the pavement.

-snip-

Cynthia Wachenheim, 44, who left a suicide note castigating herself for being a bad mother, landed on her back after taking the fatal plunge. Baby Keston was in a harness. He bounced off his mom on impact and then rolled away from her motionless arms.

-snip-

“The note said she was not happy and she talked about what she planned to do,” a source said. In the note, Wachenheim is “saying to her husband, ‘I love you. I’m making you suffer. You’re going to think I’m evil,’” a source said.

“She thinks she’s a failing mother. On the last page, she refers to postpartum depression. She was supposed to see a therapist, but she blew him off.

“As the note goes on, you get the idea she’s explaining why she’s going to do it,” the source added

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mother-infant-dead-8-story-fall-article-1.1287649#ixzz2NYJcUY00

[NickB79]

10. Postpartum depression is horrible, I wouldn't wish it on anyone

My wife went through it after our daughter was born. For 3 months after the delivery, she barely had the desire or energy to do anything. She'd lay in bed for days, only leaving to get a sandwich and use the bathroom. She flat-out refused to even hold her daughter at times, just burying herself under the covers. I was working full-time, on the overnight shift. She was able to do the bare minimum while I was gone, giving her a bottle, changing her diaper, etc, but that was about it. When I came home in the morning, I was lucky to get 2-3 hr of sleep before being up all day with our daughter. I almost lost my job due to subpar performance, but my supervisor was a saint; she had been a single mother and I ended up crying on her shoulder in her office as we talked one day about how hard it was to raise a baby alone.

I tried so hard to get her help. I contacted her OBGYN, her family, her best friends. All did what they could, but she refused to see a doctor specifically for her depression. Most people I spoke to who'd never experienced postpartum had no idea how bad it was in our house until they started seeing just how run down I was becoming. It got to the point I was having friends drive me places because I didn't trust myself behind the wheel in such a sleep-deprived condition.

When she went back to work after 3 mo. of time off, she became a bit better, but it took a full year for the postpartum to ease significantly. Even to this day, I still don't think she's fully past it; she has problems bonding with our daughter and is frequently angry and upset that our daughter shows more affection towards me than she does towards her.

I am so sorry for this family; my heart goes out to them.

[get the red out]

12. We need to remove the shame

of post-partum depression. This is so sad.

[Dpm12]

11. This is incredibly sad

n/t

[pnwmom]

13. Jumping out of an 8th floor window isn't the act of a mentally well person. n/t