WASHINGTON: A
Colorado woman is suing the city of Denver for causing her "unnecessary
terror, pain and humiliation" after she was left alone in her jail cell
while giving birth. Video footage of the harrowing ordeal shows Diana Sanchez,
now 27, going into labor the morning of July 31, 2018. Despite repeated calls
for help, no guards or medical personnel entered her cell until she gave birth
to her son.

"What should
have been one of the happiest days of her life was instead a day of unnecessary
terror, pain and humiliation that continues to cause her ongoing emotional
trauma," Sanchez's lawyer Mari Newman said in a complaint filed Wednesday.
The suit claims the city and county of Denver, Denver Health Medical Center and
six sheriff's deputies and nurses "utterly failed to satisfy their legal
and moral duty."

US Senator Kamal
Harris, a candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, has
weighed in on the issue, tweeting: "The inhuman treatment of detained
pregnant women cannot be ignored." Sanchez had been arrested for charges
of identity fraud on July 14, 2018, and was awaiting trial. According to the
complaint, she was more than eight months pregnant when she was arrested. Denver
Health personnel were aware that Sanchez was pregnant, and that she was going
through opiate withdrawal, making her imminent labor particularly risky, the
complaint said.

'Totally
disorganized'

The day she gave
birth, Sanchez told the deputies "at least eight times" that she was
experiencing contractions. She also told them when her water broke. The guards
were also able to monitor her situation via live video feed from her cell and
informed the jail nurse of Sanchez's situation, the complaint said. Instead of
calling an ambulance for Sanchez, the deputies and nurse on duty gave her an
absorbent pad to sit on and requested a non-emergency van to take her to the
hospital after they had finished booking in new inmates.

After almost six
hours of labor, Sanchez gave birth to a boy. Only then did medical personnel
enter her cell, and Sanchez and her son were taken to a hospital 30 minutes
later. "The Denver Health nursing staff proved totally disorganized and
unprepared to care" for either the infant or his mother, Newman wrote in
the complaint, noting that the staff either had not prepared or could not find
the necessary post-birth equipment.

An internal
investigation was conducted after the incident, which determined that "the
Deputy Sheriffs took the appropriate actions under the circumstances and
followed the relevant policies and procedures," according to a sheriff's
department statement released last November. "As a result, (Denver
Sheriff's Department) policy was clarified to mandate that when an inmate is in
labor an emergency ambulance will be called," the statement said. - AFP