This archive report was first published on 1 September 2019.
On July 31, 2018, Diana Sanchez, a 27-year-old woman, was in the final stages of her pregnancy while being held at the Denver jail on identity theft charges.
Security footage showed Ms. Sanchez knocking on the cell door for help just before 10 a.m., but she was met with a thin, white mat slid under the door. For an hour, she had contractions, writhing in pain and screaming for help, the footage showed.
Ms. Sanchez gave birth alone in the cell and with no medical supervision or treatment, according to a federal lawsuit filed on Wednesday against Denver, Denver Health Medical Center, and several nurses and deputies.
“What should have been one of the happiest days of her life was instead a day of unnecessary terror, pain, and humiliation,” the lawsuit said.
Ms. Sanchez was being monitored by Denver Health medical staff members through a video camera in the medical unit, separated from the general population. However, despite her pleas for help, she was left to give birth without medical assistance.
According to the lawsuit, nurses failed to provide the newborn with basic post-delivery medical care, including warming the baby, clearing mucus from his nose and mouth, and severing the umbilical cord with clamps.
The Denver Sheriff Department conducted an internal review and determined that the deputies had followed protocol and policy, but the department has since updated its policies to ensure that pregnant inmates who are in any stage of labor are transported immediately to the hospital.
Ms. Sanchez is living with her family, including her son, and her lawyer, Mari Newman, said she continues to struggle with the trauma of the event.
