The body of a baby girl has been found in the Avon Gorge close to where her missing mother was earlier found dead. Police believe it is Charlotte Bevan's five-day-old daughter Zaani Tiana Bevan Malbrouck.
A helicopter search team found Ms Bevan's body in the Avon Gorge in the early hours of Thursday. Officers later found the child’s body nearby, on a cliff face overlooked by the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
A member of the public, walking nearby, had raised the alarm after spotting hospital slippers that had been left behind.
Ms Bevan, 30, walked out of St Michael’s Hospital in Bristol on Tuesday with her newborn daughter wearing no coat or shoes and with the child wrapped only in blankets.
An Avon and Somerset Police spokesman said: "We can confirm that the body of a baby girl has been found at the search site at the Avon Gorge.
"Although formal identification has not yet taken place, we are confident this is the body of 5 day old Zaani Tiana Bevan Malbrouck. "The body of Zaani’s mother Charlotte Bevan was formally identified earlier today having been found at the same site last night.
"Our thoughts are with Charlotte’s family and partner Pascal at this very sad time."The news was announced as the hospital came under fire from members of the local community for failing the woman.
Ms Bevan’s partner, Pascal Malbrouck, 37, said she had been suffering from schizophrenia and depression after giving birth, and was sleep–deprived. It is believed she might have stopped taking her medication so that she could breastfeed her newborn.
The hospital has launched a review into how she was allowed to leave the ward unchallenged.
A spokesman for University Hospitals Bristol said: “We are deeply saddened to hear the news of the death of Charlotte Bevan and offer our heartfelt condolences to her family.
“While it remains unclear as to how Charlotte died, we will be conducting a thorough review of the care Charlotte and her baby received to see if there was anything we could have done to prevent this tragic and unexplained death."
Culled from Telegraph
