http://www.momlogic.com/2009/07/mom_refuse...on_baby_tak.php


A woman in New Jersey refused to consent to a C-section during labor in the event that her baby was in distress. She ended up giving birth vaginally without incident. The baby was in good medical condition.

However, her baby was taken away from her and her parental rights were terminated because she "abused and neglected her child" by refusing the C-section and behaving "erratically" while in labor.

How is this legal?

A New Jersey appellate court has upheld the shocking ruling, and custody has been given to the child's foster parents.

The court's decision cites hospital records that describe the mother, V.M., as "combative," "uncooperative," "erratic," "noncompliant," "irrational" and "inappropriate." That's how we acted during labor, too ... but our babies weren't taken away, thank God.

The court opinion also focuses on the fact that the mother had been in psychiatric care for twelve years prior to the birth. But, as the Huffington Post points out, her psychiatric state would never have been questioned if the mother had not refused invasive abdominal surgery -- which was entirely within her rights.

Crazy. New Jersey is the far left little cousin of NY and CA so I guess it shouldn't be that shocking. Wait till BHO takes over..it will all get better. This will never happen because our government will force her to have the treatment the say is correct....there will be no room for personal choice going forward, Washington has it covered and it is free!!!!

Yay! Going from a mother that is being treated psychiatrically (meaning being observed) to a Foster home being checked on once or twice a year by an overworked social worker!

This is just messed up.

Don't post results. It will bias the responses.

Is the mother at fault if the baby dies during childbirth? Do we consider her an expert medical opinion on herself as she's giving birth?

They only ask for permission when the baby is not in distress. If the baby's heart was to stop or show signs of distress, they wouldn't need a consent form signed to cut her open.

I just went through this with my little girl where we signed the consent and she was born C-section. That being said, we both feel we were pressured into the C-section after a long labour and given more time she may have been born vaginally. She is the most important thing in my life now and I can't imagine if we were to not sign and deliver 3 hours later that she would be taken away from us.

I would have needed psychiatric help AFTER that.

Edit: I have been looking at this and I found this from the legal proceedings: "V.M. demonstrated combative and erratic behavior including a refusal to consent to a cesarean section (c-section)1. Despite the medical opinion that the fetus demonstrated signs of distress and that the procedure was necessary to avoid imminent danger to the fetus, the child was born by vaginal delivery without incident." and I don't understand how that is the case because if the fetus was actually in distress and immentent danger a consent form is not necessary.

For example from this link: http://books.google.ca/books?id=11PRLkyYXM...%3F&f=false it speaks about how a young woman had decided to not have the C-section and stated "If the fetus was to die, it would solve her already complicated situation.." and they did the c-section without her consent.

From our experience in the hospital when speaking with the OB/GYN he stated that if the fetus went into distress, we would be rushed to the OR and surgery would be performed whether we liked it or not.

I find it confusing that if these doctors were that concerned, why they didn't just prep the OR and do the surgery

There you go being logical and getting to the heart of the matter...

Can a person be prosecuted for ignoring doctor's orders if the baby then dies? It seems like you could, but there are always gray areas. In this case, the doctor was clearly wrong, so what then? Should the mother be prosecuted for that?

I assume that if it did go to a medical emergency and they did an emergency C-section and the child did die, she would be charged.