World Renowned Medical Anthropologist Compares Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy Labeling to Witch Hunts

Dr. Helen Hayward-Brown is a medical anthropologist/sociologist who completed her doctorate on false and highly questionable accusations of Munchausen syndrome by proxy. She completed two post-doctoral fellowships with the Social Justice and Social Change Research Centre at the University of Western Sydney, in addition to her teaching and advocacy work. Dr. Helen Hayward Brown joins Tammi Stefano on The National Safe Child Show to discuss the widely discredited "Munchausen syndrome by proxy" label. This label has proven to be not only destructive of families but also obstructive of justice. Dr. Helen explains: "What actually happens in many of these cases, in about 70%, the mothers pick up that there’s been some kind of medical error. Sometimes they’ve made a complaint, sometimes they’ve actually started legal proceedings but as soon as that happens very often the parent find that that’s what they’re labeled in and that discredits the mother. It also means that if they child is removed from the family then the family can’t get a second opinion with what’s going on with the child’s health."