Woman sues Maryland jail after she's forced to give birth in filthy cell and slide amniotic sac under door
HAGERSTOWN, MARYLAND: A 26-year-old pregnant inmate was allegedly laughed at by the staff that didn't believe her. As a result, the woman with no prior experience in giving birth had to singlehandedly carry out the birth with the constant fear of her baby's health. To prove to the laughing staff that she was indeed pregnant and giving birth, she slid her amniotic sac from under her cell. She has now sued PrimeCare Medical, the company responsible for providing medical staff to Washington County jail in Hagerstown, Maryland.
Jazmin Valentine has alleged in her lawsuit that the nurses from the Pennsylvania-based company insisted that she was not in labor and rather suffering from drug withdrawal as she desperately punched the walls of her cell. She realized soon enough that she would have to carry out the birth on her own and was in constant fear that her daughter, named Jamiyah Rose, would die and she might bleed out during the July 2021 incident at Washington County Jail. The lawsuit further explains that due to the unsanitary conditions, her daughter Rose developed a type of antibiotic-resistant staph infection. The lawsuit read, "I felt like I was in the hands of the devil," said Valentine, who was put in Washington County jail in Hagerstown over a suspected probation violation. She continued, "In my brain anything could happen," as reported by Daily Mail.
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Valentine was arrested when she was more than eight months pregnant. The lawsuit states that a fellow inmate heard her Valentine's screams and called her boyfriend, who in turn called the jail to plead with staffers to help her. However, the nurses ignored his plea as well, even when a sheriff's deputy had seen the pregnant woman in her cell and raised an alarm with the nurses. The filing accuses Washington County, its sheriff's department as well as nurses and deputies at the jail of violating Valentine's rights under state law and the Constitution.
At the time of this incident, Valentine was in solitary confinement and was only attended to 15 minutes after she was discovered with a baby in her arms. She was released days after the baby was born. PrimeCare Medical has been slammed with a dozen lawsuits since 2009 that have accused the company of their incompetency and providing with poor services that have led to injury or death to prisoners.
The case is similar to that of Diana Sanchez who carried out the delivery of a baby boy. The law firm that represented Sanchez is also representing Valentine. Denver County Sheriff's Department changed its policies after Sanchez's case and ensured that pregnant inmates who are in any stage of labor are immediately taken to the hospital. Valentine and Rose ar eboth doing fine.