“Gentle, caring” mum who killed baby while in postpartum psychosis sobs as incident told in Sheffield court

Hayley MacFarlane, aged 39, was staying at The Mount in Leeds, a mother and baby psychiatric unit, after seeking help for symptoms of severe depression and psychosis.

MacFarlane, of Carrington Street, Barnsley, went on a walk with her daughter Evelyn, aged five months, following a Christmas party on the ward on December 20, 2023.

Sheffield Crown Court heard today (June 28) that she spoke to her husband on the phone, who told police she appeared fine and excited to come home for Christmas.

Two hours later, she sent him a text message which read: “I want you to know how much I love you, the life we have created and dreamed of, including our beautiful little girl.”

At around 5.30pm, in Woodhouse Moor Park in Leeds, she smothered the baby, who was found in a “serious condition” when emergency services arrived, and who sadly died.

She called her husband, told him to pull over in the car, and said “Evelyn is gone”.

She called the police moments after and told the call handler she had killed her daughter, saying “it was awful and terrible that she had been taken away”.

MacFarlane, who was suffering from severe postnatal depression and postpartum psychosis, broke down in tears in the dock as Mr Craig Hassall KC, prosecuting, began to explain the 999 call.

She whispered “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” to Ms Louise Blackwell KC, defending, who had gone over to check on her.

The court heard how MacFarlane had become severely depressed, and developed a belief that she was failing to look after her daughter and was negatively impacting her development.

She sought help from a GP and community mental health services at the end of October.

Dr Suraj Shenoy, forensic psychologist, said: “She did all she could have done - when it was time to seek help, she did. My concern is that the GP missed the psychotic element.”

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MacFarlane was only prescribed antidepressants and sleeping pills, and did not take them, as she was worried about the impact on her daughter.

On November 2, having been discharged by local services, she filled up the kitchen sink with water and placed Evelyn in it.

Then, after “realising what was happening”, she moved Evelyn to a bouncer chair and briefly left the house, later reporting that she considered drinking cleaning fluid at this time.

Unable to explain to her husband why her daughter was wet or what had happened, MacFarlane voluntarily admitted herself to Fieldhead Hospital in Wakefield.

Mr Hassall said: “She was severely depressed and unable to communicate her feelings or what had happened. 

“She was absolutely certain that she had failed Evelyn, and wasn't caring for her daughter properly. She refused to accept that she was unwell, only that she had failed, and that itself was part of the illness.

“The harm couldn't be any greater, but it is difficult to see how the culpability could be any less.”

Only after being transferred to The Mount hospital was she prescribed antipsychotics.

She still had “exaggerated worries” about the impact on Evelyn if she took it, so was placed under a Section 2 order, meaning the clinicians had control over her medication.

The clinicians described her as “gentle with her baby”, and “sometimes confused”.

When the section expired in November, she stayed on at the ward as a voluntary patient to continue her treatment.

Dr Shenoy said: “Being removed from the section doesn't mean she was well. If she was well they would have been looking at discharge. The antipsychotic that was prescribed was only in very small doses, and it was early days. 

“My formulation is that the guilt of harming her daughter (which was a false belief linked to psychosis) led to a sense of hopelessness that she would never be able to do justice to her.

“She's a conscientious person, an anxious person, who wants to work hard and wants to do the right thing.

“If she was not unwell or psychotic, I don't think she would have done anything.”

Twenty eight people provided character references about MacFarlane.

Ms Blackwell said: “The references talk about how caring she is, and the level of perfectionism in everything she does. That is the best example of what she is like when she is not unwell.

“The most important vein that runs through every one of them is that she is a gentle and caring person. 

“Everyone who saw her in October saw that there was something wrong. By late October there had been a considerable change. The GP and community psychiatric services failed to recognize the level of psychosis.”

MacFarlane is currently staying in a psychiatric unit in Sheffield.

She will appear at the same court for sentencing on Wednesday (July 3).