‘Health Care’ Worker Arrested On Suspicion Of Murdering 8 Babies

A UK woman has been arrested after being suspected of murdering 8 babies and trying to murder 6 more at a hospital in the northwest of England, officials have said.

Police have not named the suspect and have identified her only as a “health care professional.”

The arrest came after a year-long police investigation into the deaths of 17 babies and 15 “non-fatal collapses” at the neonatal unit at The Countess of Chester Hospital between the period March 2015 and July 2016.

Chester is about 200 miles northwest of London.

“This is an extremely difficult time for all the families and it is important to remember that, at the heart of this, there are a number of bereaved families seeking answers as to what happened to their children,” Detective Inspector Paul Hughes, who is in charge of the investigation, said in a statement.

In July 2016, the hospital kicked off an independent investigation into the deaths of several infants in its neonatal unit. It was at that point that they asked the police to get involved.

The neonatal unit at the hospital is open to babies and women who are more than 32 weeks pregnant.