Michigan Case In Courts, This is an interesting case

[Patch]

Mich. county fights ruling in jail birth case

DETROIT (AP) - A Michigan County is fighting a judge's ruling that jail officers can be sued for violating a girl's constitutional rights by not getting her mother to a hospital for her birth.

Chelsie Barker, 10, needs round-the-clock attention as a result of a lack of oxygen during birth in the Wayne County jail, a lawyer for her guardian said Thursday.

The taxpayers will pay in the end, but the questions really are, should a parents misdeeds be paid for by an innocent child and wouldn't it likely have been MUCH cheaper to provide basic medical care?

Slàinte,    

Patch    

[Antwn]

Lots of questions here. Did the jail have an infirmary? Was the birth attended by a midwife or qualifed medical personel? To what extent did the mother have choice about the type of care she received? Was proper prenatal care provided and birth risk assessment taken. If jail officials had total control over all the options, then they're libel for the quality of medical services they provided. If the mother chose to have the baby in the jail with a midwife, just as home birth mothers do, then she takes the risk of complications occurring, provided proper medical care was available in the jail. As I said, too many questions.

[Patch]

I have few details other than she had been returned to jail and left for several hours knowing birth was eminent. The baby was not breathing when EMS was called and they were not "prepared' to deal with the situation.

It seems to me that even the cost of even a C-section would have been miniscule compared to the cost of supporting this child for a lifetime.

Since the mother was in jail, she had no choice as to the location where the baby would be born. If they had her in the hospital, at least help for the child would have been readily available.

My guess would be that govt rolled the dice, as they probably had in the past, but this time they came up "craps." I base that on many years of govt employment.

Whether the case is won or lost, the taxpayers will care for the child!

Slàinte,    

Patch    

[stoirmeil]

True, not enough of the conditions are known. But my guess is, the mother was in a plain local jail without appropriate medical backup for anything like a birth, went into labor, and the people on duty didn't know what to do or when to get help. If there was no medical backup, you would think they would want her off their hands like a hot potato and in a hospital as soon as she showed signs of labor. Even if there was a qualified midwife present, midwives usually know as soon as it's necessary to remove the woman to a hospital to deal with any complications, and they want backup to cover themselves as well as protect the mother and child. If the mother asked for that and was refused, then I would agree that the jailhouse staff are very likely culpable for the child's permanent disability. Even if she didn't ask (for example, if she was too "out of it" to know what was happening), it seems to me they should have transported her to the nearest care facility, instead of just calling EMS once things had clearly gotten out of control.

[Patch]

That is the way I saw it. In state govt. we always took the action least likely to incur liability and documented everything. I saw county and city governments head to Federal court often because they had always done something the same way for years and suddenly things went terribly wrong.

Unfortunately for the child, no amount of money can make up for what she has lost!

Slàinte,    

Patch    

[Harlot]

Patch I had not know about this. It is so sad for the child. If I had been the one asking the questions the first one I would of asked is how far along in her pregnancy was she when she first arrived at the jail and if she was real close to her due date made arrangements at a hospital under guard. It is sad too say but a lot of times they just drop the ball and pay for it later.

[Patch]

The article stated that the jailers knew the birth was "eminent." It would have happened over 10 years ago as the child is now 10. The court did not agree with the county so one could assume there is "some" merit to the case. Especially in the Mid West.

Until the case is decided we will not have a flood of information!

I think of the things I have observed in the last 40 plus years and I can see it happening!

Slàinte,    

Patch