The child was also allegedly seen eating a small piece of chicken at a gathering in the city where they were being assessed and treated for an intestinal disorder.
A relative has given evidence that the event stood out because she had believed Child X was unable to eat food.
The relative was testifying in the High Court at Nelson today, during a trial involving a woman accused of mistreating her child during medical care.
The mother, whose name has been suppressed to protect the child's identity, has pleaded not guilty to four charges of ill-treating a child and three charges of infecting with disease.
The mistreatment was alleged to have occurred over a 19-month period before the child was removed from the mother's care, after a doctor reported suspected medical child abuse was at play.
The allegations arise from medical interventions required for the child's assisted feeding and treatment for complex intestinal failure.
The defence argues the events which formed the charges arose from management of a "medically fragile child living with complicated medical devices" and the actions of a desperate mother trying to help her child, who originally presented with suspected reflux disorder, and failure to thrive.
Child 'unable to eat' by usual means
The court was told that at various stages the child, whom the mother claimed could not eat by usual means, was given nutrition intravenously and also via feeding tubes directly to the stomach and alternatively into the gut.
Management was handled in hospitals and at home, after the mother was trained in the intricacies and strict hygiene protocols needed to manage the lines and tubes.
The relative said she and the accused were once close, and she believed Child X had health issues linked to not being able to eat.
She was not sure of the problem, only that [Child X] was in hospital a lot and had several tests done.
She said when the family visited them in the city where Child X was receiving hospital care at the time, a couple of incidents "stood out", including what appeared to be the child "searching for food off the floor".
The defendant had arrived with Child X and a sibling for a pizza dinner.
The relative was told the child was unable to eat pizza, but she saw the mother give them a small piece of chicken tender.
"I was confused because she said [Child X] was unable to eat.
"I asked her if [Child X] could eat or not. [The mother] seemed blase about [the child] eating chicken.
"I also saw [the child] eating crumbs off the floor."
- by Tracy Neal, Open Justice reporter at NZ Herald
