Several students reported hearing baby cries coming from the bathroom stall where Karen Hubbard, 19, died after giving birth Jan. 30, a UW-Eau-Claire police report released Monday said.
Information at the time of Hubbard’s death only revealed she had given birth to a baby girl and reportedly died of complications. The baby died four days later due to a lack of oxygen at birth. Further information regarding the status of the infant at the time of Hubbard’s death was not disclosed.
The police report said two women entered the bathroom where Hubbard was and told police they heard sounds similar to those of a baby screaming. The women said the noises followed the sound of a loud gush of water.
“I heard an infant scream very loudly. I clearly recognized this scream as an infant screaming and not the mother,” one resident told the university police who were investigating Hubbard’s death, the Associated Press reported.
The two students who reported hearing baby cries said they asked Hubbard if she was okay and she replied in a “coherent and normal” voice that she simply had an upset stomach.
The two students then left the bathroom and informed a resident assistant of their concerns for Hubbard and also of a baby’s cries.
The students entered the bathroom a little later to check on Hubbard and heard an infant whimpering followed by “three to four flushes of the toilet in rapid fashion,” the police report said.
At 11:25 p.m., some 15 minutes after another student reported hearing grunting noises coming from the stall, a student pounded on the stall door several times and received no response from Hubbard. The hall director was notified and entered the stall to try and revive Hubbard.
Emergency crews were called and the first officer on the scene pulled Hubbard from the stall to begin attempts at resuscitation and found a newborn baby in the toilet of the stall, the report said.
The officer pulled the baby from the toilet, and a resident trained in CPR attempted to revive the infant.
The report said Hubbard was transferred to Sacred Heart Hospital, where she was pronounced dead after emergency officials attempted to revive her for one and a half hours.
Hubbard’s roommate said she did not know Hubbard was pregnant. The roommate told police she noticed Hubbard had gained weight but regarded it as inconsequential.
