Mother charged with hurting baby; Munchausen Syndrome by proxy?

April 7, 2011

Tucson, Arizona police say that Blanca Montano, 21, an Arizona mother, was arrested and charged with child abuse on Tuesday for purposely injuring her seven-month-old daughter. Hospital staff reported Montano to authorities after the child was found to be suffering from nine separate, rare infections which became worse after the mother's visits.

Investigation by police determined that Montano had knowingly poisoned her child and made her sick. Montano was then prevented from visiting and the child noticeably improved.

Montano hospitalized her two children at  in February where they were diagnosed and treated for an infection. While one child improved and was released, her infant daughter became increasingly sick and was significantly worse following visits from her mother. Suspecting that the mother was  exhibiting symptoms of a rare condition known as ,  in which a mother intentionally harms her  child to obtain attention or sympathy for herself, hospital officials contacted police and set up a hidden camera in the infant's room.

Police say that when the mother realized that there was a camera in the hospital room, she covered the child's crib with a towel.

obtained a search warrant which said doctors "believe that Blanca is giving her daughter something to make her sick. They indicated the ingestion of could cause the infections."

Dr Marc Feldman, a psychiatrist at the, says that Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy is not a. "It is not a mental illness. It is a form of abuse, just like sexual abuse, physical abuse and emotional abuse – it's just a variant," he said. Montano is out on $50,000 bail and will next appear in court on April 15.