[ad_1]
Almost five hours later, his water burst. But she says she never went to the hospital.
She could not. The young woman, now 27, has been locked up in Denver County Jail and she says her request for help has gone unanswered. Nearly six hours after declaring having informed the delivery warden of the delivery, she had delivered a baby alone in a prison cell.
These are the allegations that were made in a recent civil lawsuit against the Denver Health Medical Center, Denver City and County, and six sheriff's deputies and nurses. The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court in Denver, seeks damages and policy changes. Mari Newman, Sanchez's lawyer, has described her client's experience as "deeply troubling".
"What we are looking for is Denver and Denver Health to ensure that this does not happen anymore and that everyone is held responsible," she told CNN.
The Denver sheriff's department denied that its deputy ministers had committed wrongdoing, but they changed their policy toward women workers.
The ordeal was captured on a closed-circuit video recorded in Sanchez's cell. An edited version of the silent recording that Newman provided to CNN shows Sanchez talking to someone at the door of his cell around 6:30 am. At 9:43, Sanchez is seen knocking at the door of his cell, apparently to attract the attention of someone..
According to the lawsuit, she told the prison staff that her water had broken and that she had abdominal pain. The delivery was imminent. About 15 minutes later, someone slipped what his lawyer described as a white absorbent pad folded under the door. The video shows Sanchez unfolding it and laying it on the bed in his cell. She pulled her pants on her lap and lay on top of them.
Thirty minutes later, the video shows Sanchez clearly in pain, writhing under a navy blue cloth. Less than 15 minutes later, at 10:43, Sanchez seems to scream in pain and try to control his breathing.
She is still the only person inside the cell, according to what we can see from the video. Seconds later, she removes her pants from one leg, then her underwear. Finally, a guard appears at the door, takes a half step inside and leaves while Sanchez seems to continue shouting, shows the video. With his weight displaced from one side of his body, Sanchez gives birth to a little boy, always keeping him standing in the doorway. Then a nurse enters the room, according to the video.
"The nurse who finally arrives is looking at the baby who was born as if he had just fallen out of space, and his way of taking it is as if he had never seen a baby before," Newman explained. that the appearance of a baby should not have been a surprise.
She says that Sanchez told the prison staff – both to the sheriff's deputies and nurses – that she had had contractions at least eight times that morning and that an ambulance was not being used. was named after the birth. The complaint indicates that staff ordered a "non-urgent van" to take her to the hospital.
"I felt helpless, no one helped me, there were so many people and nobody really raised their finger," she told the channel. "This pain was right – it's indescribable, and what hurts me the most, is that no one cares."
According to the lawsuit, the Denver Health nurses hired by the prison while the staff members were unprepared, even after the baby was born – unable to find forceps to cut the umbilical cord, says the lawsuit.
"Despite multiple requests, no forceps have been found.No prison nurse has ever tightened or severed the umbilical cord," said the manager.
According to the lawsuit, more than 30 minutes after birth, Sanchez and his newborn finally arrived at the hospital.
Sanchez was waiting for his trial for fraud related to identity
Sanchez was at the county jail awaiting trial on charges of identity fraud, according to his lawyer. She was then sentenced to two years of probation. Newman says that Sanchez also struggled with heroin addiction and that her client had informed prison officials that methadone had been prescribed to her to prevent withdrawal symptoms. The lawyer said the pregnancy was particularly risky.
Sanchez was housed in a dedicated medical unit and "under the supervision of health professionals from Denver Health at the time of delivery," Denver sheriff's department spokeswoman Daria Serna said in a statement. release that she sent to CNN. "We sympathize with anyone who is in prison during her pregnancy, including Ms. Sanchez."
At the time, the incident triggered an internal investigation, but the investigation revealed that "the deputy sheriffs had taken appropriate action in the circumstances and complied with the policies and procedures in effect." [Denver Sheriff’s Department] the policy has been clarified to require emergency ambulances to call an ambulance when an inmate is working, "reads a statement from the sheriff's department released last November.
"To ensure that nothing like this happens again, the Denver Sheriff's Department has changed its policy to ensure that pregnant inmates who are at any stage of work are now immediately transported to the hospital. ", the statement said.
The same statement also noted that the medical staff provided by Denver Health is responsible for the care and well-being of the inmates.
Denver Health spokesman Simon Crittle declined to comment on the incident, citing the dispute, but in a statement, "Denver Health provides high quality medical care to thousands of inmates each year. are our number one priority and we strive to make sure that they receive the proper care. "
[ad_2]
Source link