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copteacher
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 Posted: 03/12/04 - 08:34 Post subject: Interesting article on mom refusing C-Section
mom charged for refusing 1 twin died
| Quote: | Woman charged after refusing Caesarean
Autopsy showed 2nd twin would have survived with procedureThe Associated Press
Updated: 10:42 p.m. ET March 11, 2004SALT LAKE CITY - A pregnant woman who allegedly ignored medical warnings to have a Caesarean section to save her twins was charged Thursday with murder after one of the babies was stillborn.
Prosecutors said Melissa Ann Rowland, 28, didn’t want the scars that accompany the surgery.
An autopsy found the baby died two days before its Jan. 13 delivery and that it would have survived if Rowland had had a C-section when her doctors urged her to, between Christmas and Jan.9. The other baby is alive, but authorities had no further information.
The doctors had warned that without a C-section, the twins would probably die, authorities said. A nurse told police Rowland said a Caesarean would “ruin her life” and she would rather “lose one of the babies than be cut like that.”
“We are unable to find any reason other than the cosmetic motivations” for the mother’s decision, said Kent Morgan, spokesman for the district attorney.
Court documents give no address for Rowland, and she isn’t listed in area telephone books. An attorney was to be appointed for her Friday, Morgan said. A court appearance was set for Tuesday.
The charges carry five years to life in prison. Rowland was jailed on $250,000 bail.
In January, the state Supreme Court ruled that unborn children at all stages of development are covered under the state’s criminal homicide statute. The law exempts the death of a fetus during an abortion.
The law has been used to prosecute women who kill or seriously harm their babies through drug use; it has never been used because a woman failed to follow her doctor’s advice, said Marguerite Driessen, a law professor at Brigham Young University.
“It’s very troubling to have somebody come in and say we’re going to charge this mother for murder because we don’t like the choices she made,” Driessen said.
According to the documents, Rowland went to LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City in December to seek advice after she hadn’t felt her babies move. A nurse, Regina Davis, told police she instructed Rowland to go immediately to one of two other hospitals, but that Rowland said she would rather have both babies die before going to either place.
On Jan. 2, a doctor at LDS Hospital examined Rowland and recommended an immediate C-section based on an ultrasound and the babies’ slowing heart rates. Rowland left, the doctor told police.
The same day, Rowland allegedly saw a nurse at another hospital, saying she had left LDS Hospital because the doctor wanted to cut her “from breast bone to pubic bone.”
A week later, Rowland allegedly went to a third hospital to verify whether her babies were alive. A nurse there told police she could not detect a heartbeat from one twin and advised Rowland to remain in the hospital, but Rowland allegedly ignored the advice.
A spokesman for LDS Hospital said he could not comment, citing medical privacy and a pending court case. It was not clear how many weeks Rowland was pregnant before the delivery. |
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copteacher
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Posted: 03/12/04 - 08:36 Post subject:
Wow this is interesting. All I know is that Robin had an emergency c-section. We did not even think about cosmetic stuff. If that is the case that is sad and selfish. I am sure there are more details.
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Cappy
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Posted: 03/12/04 - 08:40 Post subject:
Should be interesting to see how this play's out. I don't think they will get a conviction.
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TriBob
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Posted: 03/12/04 - 09:01 Post subject:
I hope they find the surviving baby a loving family.
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elkid
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Posted: 03/12/04 - 09:55 Post subject:
| Cappy wrote: | | Should be interesting to see how this play's out. I don't think they will get a conviction. |
According to current law they shouldn't. If they do, it'd be a major precedent that would be argued all the way up to the Supreme Court.
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msparks
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Posted: 03/12/04 - 09:57 Post subject:
| rtpd113 wrote: | | If that is the case that is sad and selfish. |
You're being way too kind. I think that the judge will have harsher words for her.
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gretriever
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Posted: 03/12/04 - 10:00 Post subject:
A little help - I'm asking because I really don't know.
On a "routine" C-section, do they open the woman "from the breast bone to the pubic bone", as the mother alleged/feared? Is she usually opened that much?
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purple hayes
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Posted: 03/12/04 - 10:07 Post subject:
| gretriever wrote: | A little help - I'm asking because I really don't know.
On a "routine" C-section, do they open the woman "from the breast bone to the pubic bone", as the mother alleged/feared? Is she usually opened that much? |
http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/PR/00078.html
| Quote: | Abdominal incisions
The incision on your abdomen is about 6 inches long. This incision goes through the skin, fat and muscles stopping short of the lining of the abdominal cavity (peritoneum). There are two types of abdominal incisions — vertical and bikini.
Bikini incisions are horizontal cuts made across the lower abdomen, near the pubic hairline. Bikini incisions are used in most C-sections because they typically heal well and may cause less postoperative discomfort.
Vertical incisions, made from just below your navel to just above the pubic bone, may be used when a large incision is needed or if your baby must be removed quickly. These incisions can be made quickly, and can be extended to handle other surgical problems that may arise. |
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copteacher
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Posted: 03/12/04 - 10:09 Post subject:
Robin has a "X" on her belly basically....the vertical from the emergency surgery and the bikini from Hannah
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runaroundsue
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Posted: 03/12/04 - 10:13 Post subject:
routine is in the pubic area from hip to hip (not that long though--usually called bikini).....emergency can be from belly button down to pubic area...not always...my first was emergency, but they still had time to do the bikini cut. My scar was awful. I couldn't wear a one piece swimsuit without a bump showing. Second c-section doc cleaned it up nicely 
Terrible choice. But you know it wasn't a real person yet , "her body, her choice"  I'm being quite sarcastic, for anyway that wouldn't already know that. Unfornuately this selfish being is a mother now.
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copdotcom1
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Posted: 03/12/04 - 10:15 Post subject:
She won't get convicted. To do so would be giving person status to a "fetus" which would cause big problems for abortions. Not going to happen.
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copteacher
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Posted: 03/12/04 - 10:19 Post subject:
| copdotcom1 wrote: | | She won't get convicted. To do so would be giving person status to a "fetus" which would cause big problems for abortions. Not going to happen. |
Larry in PA, she actually would get charged. We have laws on the books to protect fetus'
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gretriever
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Posted: 03/12/04 - 10:20 Post subject:
Thanks PH and Joe - and Sue, too! (at least the link had no photos, thank goodness - I don't deal with operations well. I still don't know how I didn't pass out when our son was born! )
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msparks
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Posted: 03/12/04 - 10:26 Post subject:
| gretriever wrote: | | Thanks PH and Joe. (at least the link had no photos, thank goodness - I don't deal with operations well. I still don't know how I didn't pass out when our son was born! ) |
So, you weren't watching the television show (last week, two weeks ago?) that covered some live births? It might have been on the Discovery Channel - not sure - but I caught a couple glimpses while surfing during a commercial.
Both of the women shown (I think that there was a total of four or five) giving birth were undergoing C-sections. And it was live! And not pretty.
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Cappy
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Posted: 03/12/04 - 10:32 Post subject:
| gretriever wrote: | | Thanks PH and Joe - and Sue, too! (at least the link had no photos, thank goodness - I don't deal with operations well. I still don't know how I didn't pass out when our son was born! ) |
I was there for both of my kid's birth's, and even had the opportunity to assist in a delivery in the back of our Ambulance. Pretty cool stuff
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