Video shows Denver County Jail inmate writhing in pain for hours as she's forced to give birth alone in her cell
DENVER, COLORADO: An ex-inmate of the Denver County Jail is claiming that she was forced to give birth alone in her cell when she was being held last year, without the assistance of any medical staff, prison guards or family members, as he screamed and cried in pain for six hours after her labor started.
Diana Sanchez, 26, is now suing Denver city, Denver Health Medical Center and six individuals, after a recently released surveillance video from inside her cell that was obtained by KDVR showed the mother-of-one writhing in excruciating pain and begging for help from the prison staff for hours before delivering her son, Jordan, at 10:44 am that day.
Two weeks before the alleged incident, a heavily pregnant Sanchez was booked into the jail for identity theft-related charges. According to a 47-page lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, Sanchez claimed that she told Denver Sheriff Department deputies at 5 am that she was going into labor.
However, when her water broke an hour later, none of the prison guards came to aid her. Although she begged to be taken to a hospital, her request was denied and no ambulance showed up at the prison.
Denver sheriff's deputies "callously made her labor alone for hours, and ultimately give birth alone in a dirty jail cell without any medical care," the lawsuit stated.
Only when she delivered her son did a male nurse, who was watching her scream inside the cell from outside, come up to her and pick up the baby. "(He) picks up the baby as though he's never seen one in his life," Sanchez's attorney Mari Newman said. "I mean, the lack of any sort of compassion is astounding."
The lawsuit further accused the jail's staff of making a conscious decision not to take her to the hospital despite knowing she was giving birth because it was "inconvenient."
"This suit is brought to hold to account the officials who cruelly chose convenience over compassion," the lawsuit stated.
Newman said: "The failure to provide care to a woman who is in labor and a baby who is born without any medical assistance in a dirty jail cell, this is not civilized."
Sanchez said that she could not describe the feeling of utter loneliness that she felt at the time of her delivery. "I felt helpless," she said, Daily Mail reported. "Nobody was helping me. There were so many people there and nobody lifted a finger basically. That pain, it's just, it's indescribable. What hurts me more is the fact that nobody cared."
Apart from the governmental entities, the individuals named in the lawsuit are Rachime Herch, Nina Chacon, Alexandra Wherry, Michael Hart, Tysen Garcia and Justin Albee.
“The care and well-being of our inmates is a top priority for the Denver Sheriff’s Department, which is why we contract with Denver Health to provide comprehensive medical care at both of our jails," a sheriff's spokeswoman said in a statement. "After learning that Ms. Sanchez gave birth in a cell at the Denver County Jail on July 31, 2018, Sheriff (Patrick) Firman immediately ordered Internal Affairs to conduct a review to understand what happened. Denver Health was also asked to review this incident."
He added that after the allegations, the sheriff's department had clarified its policy to staff making it mandatory to call an ambulance when an inmate is in labor.
Denver Health declined to comment on the lawsuit.