The mother of a 22-month-old Kyneton toddler found dead in the family car was “severely sleep deprived” and suffering from “forgotten baby syndrome” at the time, a coroner has been told.
An inquest into the death of Noah Zunde last week heard that the young boy succumbed to heatstroke in February, 2015 after being left in the car all day.
His mother Romy Zunde made the devastating discovery in the back seat of her car minutes after she arrived at a Kyneton childcare centre to pick him up. The Victorian Coroners Court was told Ms Zunde believed she had dropped Noah at childcare that morning.
Associate Professor of Psychology Matthew Mundy, who tended a medical report to the coroner, told the hearing he believed the mother’s actions were the result of a catastrophic memory lapse.
“If you are capable of forgetting to post a letter, you are capable of forgetting to take your baby out of the car,” he said.
“When you forget something simple like forgetting to post a letter … you assume that that’s a simple failure of short-term memory, and it absolutely is.
“Your memory is limited – it’s limited in the number of things you can remember at any given time and it’s limited in the amount of time you can remember a thing for.”
Ms Zunde was severely sleep-deprived, stressed, dealing with a change in routine and suffering from a phenomenon dubbed “forgotten baby syndrome”, Professor Mundy said.
The inquest was told that in the week leading up to the death, Ms Zunde hadn’t been able to sleep well due to a suspected case of gastroenteritis.
Her daughter later fell sick, too.
Professor Mundy said that sleep was required for memories to be consolidated, so the deprivation would have decreased the likelihood that Ms Zunde remembered her child was in the car.
“She was overwhelmed with confusion and thought about several alternatives where she could have left Noah.”
During the inquest, coroner Sara Hinchey was told of new technology being used in some cars in the United States to alert parents to the presence of a baby in the backseat when they turn off the ignition.
The device emits a sound and visual cue to remind parents to remove their child from the vehicle.
Professor Mundy recommended similar technology be introduced to new cars in Victoria.
The inquest will continue at a later date.
– with The Age
