Denver woman sues after giving birth alone in a jail cell, crying for help
Lawyer Mari Newman calls it 'something you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy'
Diana Sanchez spent nearly six hours in labour in a Denver jail before finally giving birth alone in her cell.
In security footage released by her lawyers, the 27-year-old woman is seen writhing in pain as she pulls down her pants, lays down on her bed and gives birth on top of an absorbent pad that a guard slipped under the door for her.
A federal lawsuit filed Wednesday claims the city, jail staff and local health officials "cruelly chose convenience over compassion" and violated Sanchez's right to adequate medical care.
"It's really every person's worst nightmare, something you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy. And it's just not really the kind of trauma that goes away," Sanchez's lawyer Mari Newman told As It Happens host Carol Off.
"What should have been the happiest moment of her life ended up being something that was an absolute horror for her."
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Warning: The following video clip contains disturbing footage:
Newman says staff at the Denver County Jail knew Sanchez was eight months' pregnant when she first arrived to serve time for violating her probation on identity theft charges, which she sustained for cashing a cheque addressed to her sister.
Nobody called an ambulance
When she went into labour on July 31, 2018, she was in a medical cell awaiting transportation to hospital. Staff requested a correctional van to pick her up — not an ambulance.
But the jail workers knew the ride likely wouldn't be available for hours until the morning booking process was finished, the lawsuit alleges.
Their failure to provide medical care for Ms. Sanchez and her baby is really unforgivable.- Mari Newman, lawyer
"Immediately upon Ms. Sanchez informing the staff that she had been having contractions, she should have been taken to a hospital. There's no reason not to have done so," Newman said.
"But instead, what happened is she ended up at some point realizing nobody was going to help her. And she ultimately ended up pulling down her pants and laying down on the hard bench and giving birth all by herself just feet away from a dirty toilet. It's really disgusting."
In the jail cell footage, correctional officials have blocked out the toilet with a black bar.
New policies in place
The jail's nurses are hired from Denver Health, the city's public hospital, and the Denver County Sheriff's Department said Sanchez was in a medical unit under the care of nurses at the time she delivered.
Denver Health declined to comment on a pending lawsuit but defended its work in the jail.
"Denver Health provides high quality medical care to thousands of inmates every year," spokesman Simon Crittle said.
The sheriff's department said that it has since changed its policy to ensure that pregnant inmates who are in any stage of labour are immediately taken to hospital.
Previously, such decisions were left to jail nurses, but deputies are now authorized to call for an ambulance for someone in labour, department spokeswoman Daria Serna said.
Newman says it's absurd this wasn't already jail policy.
"I'm simply flabbergasted by the notion that Denver says that when a woman gives birth all by herself with no medical care whatsoever in a dirty jail cell, they've done nothing wrong," she said.
"If that's what happens when they do nothing wrong, I shudder to think what it looks like when they do make a mistake."
After she gave birth, a nurse walked in and picked up the baby boy. But the lawsuit says nobody dried or warmed the baby or cleared mucus from his mouth for several minutes, and that jail nurses did not have equipment to cut the baby's umbilical cord.
"[The nurse] looked at the baby like it was a surprise that the baby was there," Newman said. "Obviously, it was the only possible outcome when a woman is in labour that there will ultimately be a baby."
Baby is doing fine
Sanchez was not available for comment. Last year, she told Denver KDVR-TV, which first reported on the delivery, that the jail treats inmates like "garbage."
"I know I was there because I was at fault for that I did wrong — and I didn't deserve that and especially, not my baby," she said.
Sanchez's son is healthy, Newman said — but his mother continues to suffer from the trauma.
"This time it happens that Denver and Denver Health didn't kill anybody. But because they happened to get lucky and nobody died hardly means that they didn't do anything wrong," she said.
"Their failure to provide medical care for Ms. Sanchez and her baby is really unforgivable. It's an obvious constitutional violation, but it's also a surprising failure just to treat a human being with the kind of humanity that we would expect from anybody."
Written by Sheena Goodyear with files from The Associated Press. Interview with Mari Newman produced by Katie Geleff.