What do you call a mother who gains attention by taking her baby to the doctors too often?

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Sometimes mothers, especially new mothers, are simply extremely worried and overprotective. Every little thing becomes cause for alarm. They may not being trying to gain this attention, it may just be a by-product of being an overly anxious parent.

There is however a disorder where parents, usually the mother, purposefully puts their children in the situation of being ill to gain attention for themselves as caretaker. This is called Munchausen's By Proxy. Not only will some mothers take their children to doctor after doctor, but sometimes they will make their children ill, by poison or by feeding the children food they shouldn't be eating (allergies, food that is too old for an infant, etc..). Why do they do this? Because people tend to look at the parent of an ill child and praise them for being a dedicated parent. They pity them because of having a sick child, and think they are marvelous parents for taking such good care of their children.

First answer by Celticfife. Last edit by Celticfife. Contributor trust: 81 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 8 [recommend question]