1-Hour Old Newborn Baby Kidnapped at Kentucky Hospital because Parents Refused to Take Parenting Classes
Ausia and Jarvis had their 1-hour old newborn breastfed baby removed by Kentucky Department for Community Based Services (DCBS) on Friday 7/15/16 from the Medical Center of Bowling Green. The family has been fighting for the return of their other 2 children which have been in foster care for over 2 years, based on what they believe are false Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) allegations. The parents claim they are innocent, and refuse to take parenting classes which they believe would be an admission of guilt. The mother explains: "I was able to breastfeed my child after she was born for 30 minutes & I was able to hold her for an hour after she was born. They took her to the on-call pediatrician and sent me to a postpartum room after delivery. I was on medications that had made me sleepy so I kept her in the nursery until I could get an hour of sleep to be able to be up with her. Jarvis came and called the nursery to bring her to our room, an hour passed and still my baby hadn't been brought back. I called and asked for my child, 30 minutes passed and they still hadn't brought my baby to me. I paged the nurse and asked her to call the nursery. 20 minutes passed and 3 officers came in along with SSW and her 2 supervisors. The SSW, Kaitlyn, said there was an emergency removal order for my baby girl. I was devastated and honestly sick to my stomach." Now the state is threatening to place the newborn in foster care, and telling the new mom she will not even get visits with her new baby girl. She has not been allowed to even pump breastmilk to be bottle-fed to her daughter. The complete prevention of bonding and immediate separation of the child from the parents leaves the family wondering if a quick adoption is the goal of DCBS for their newborn daughter.