Newborn suffers concussion during postpartum caregivers’ fight

A postpartum caregiver ended up giving a newborn a concussion as she tried to hit her coworker who was holding the infant at an apartment in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, in November.

Video footage released by SBS TV Thursday evening showed the attacker in her 60s swinging her fist toward her coworker’s head during an argument. As her target turned around, her fist hit the one-month-old baby in the face.

The blow came shortly after the attacker said to the other caregiver, “Don’t come from tomorrow. A novice should be replaced.” The two were hired to look after twins.

The West Hwaseong Police Station said on Friday it sent over the case to the prosecution late last month.

The infant, diagnosed with a concussion, was recommended two weeks of treatment.

“Looks like she ended up hitting the baby by mistake during the fight with the other caregiver,” a police official said.

“Therefore, we charged her with assault, instead of child abuse, as we sent the case over to the prosecution.”

The attacker was hired through a government-designated agency, according to news reports.

The baby’s parents asked the agency of her whereabouts as they were worried she might go work in another home, but the agency said they didn’t know.

“No one knows whether she might be working as a caregiver somewhere. We wish the government makes arrangements so that only qualified caregivers can be hired (through these agencies),” they said.

(sophie@heraldcorp.com)