Woman 'gave birth in jail cell so filthy newborn caught infection'

Woman sues Maryland jail after she was forced to pass her ‘AMNIOTIC SAC’ under jail cell door to prove she was in labor during horror birth that saw her baby girl catch antibiotic-resistant infection from filthy cell

A federal lawsuit alleges that Jazmine Valentine, 26, slid what she believed was her amniotic sac under a cell door to convince prison staff she was in labor
Her daughter then developed a staph infection due to the unsanitary conditions in the Maryland jail, the lawsuit claims
Valentine had been arrested for a probation violation just one day before going into labor
Valentine was discovered in her cell 15 minutes after giving birth with her newborn daughter in her arms

A woman who gave birth alone on the dirty concrete floor of a Maryland jail cell slid her amniotic sac under the door to prove to laughing staff she was having a baby, a federal lawsuit claimed on Tuesday.

Jazmin Valentine, 26, claims she was calling for help and desperately punching the walls of her cell before she came to the horrifying realization that she was going to have to deliver the baby on her own.

Valentine, who had never given birth before, said she feared that her baby would die and she might bleed out during the July 2021 incident at Washington County Jail.

She delivered her baby daughter singlehandedly in the early hours of the morning, with staff claiming they ignored her because they believed she was going cold turkey from drugs.

Due to the unsanitary conditions in the jail the baby, named Jamiyah Rose, then developed a type of antibiotic resistant staph infection, the lawsuit said.

Jazmine Valentine, 26, who filed a lawsuit on Tuesday claiming her cries for help were ignored by prison staff, is photographed with red hair. Her daughter Jamiyah Rose is pictured right

Jazmine Valentine, 26, in the supermarket with the daughter she delivered in the jail. Valentine filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022, alleging that nurses and staff at the Washington County jail in Maryland ignored her screams for help as she gave birth to her daughter there in July 2021

‘I felt like I was in the hands of the devil,’ said Valentine, who was being held in Washington County jail in Hagerstown over a suspected probation violation. Further details on the crime she previously committed have not been disclosed.

‘In my brain anything could happen,’ Valentine said.

The lawsuit alleges that Washington County, its sheriff department as well as nurses and deputies at the jail violated Valentine’s rights under state law and the Constitution.

Valentine, who had been in solitary confinement, was only attended to 15 minutes after giving birth, when she was discovered with a newborn baby in her arms.

According to the lawsuit the sheriff’s deputy that eventually discovered her in the cell had expressed concern to jail nurses prior but had been ignored.

Nurses in the jail working for its contracted medical provider PrimeCare Medical, Inc. said that they thought Valentine was withdrawing from drugs and not in labor.

A fellow inmate heard Valentine’s calls for help and called her boyfriend who then called the jail pleading with staff members to help her, the lawsuit said.

Aerial image of Washington County jail in Hagerstown where Valentine gave birth to her daughter in the early hours of July 4, 2021. Soon after delivering the baby the mother and daughter were taken to hospital. Valentine said on Tuesday that the baby is now doing fine

Washington County Sheriff’s Departments are defendants in the lawsuit filed by Valentine who had been pregnant for eight months before being taken into the county jail just one day before going into labor

PrimeCare Medical, which is based in Pennsylvania, has been involved in over two dozen lawsuits since 2009 arguing that its poor medical or mental health care resulted in injury or death to prisoners.

The details of many of those cases are unknown but the company has been held liable for more than $13million in damages in six cases since November 2017.

Once the baby was born in the cell Valentine was taken to hospital for treatment.

Valentine was released several days later and her baby is doing well, she said on Tuesday.

This lawsuit is similar to one filed in 2019 by a woman who gave birth alone in Denver’s jail the year before. She claimed that nurses and deputies ignored her pleas for help for five hours.

Surveillance video released then by the law firm representing Diana Sanchez, which is also representing Valentine, showed her lying down on a narrow bed crying out in pain and delivering a baby boy. The city eventually settled the lawsuit.

Following Sanchez’s delivery, the Denver County Sheriff’s Department said it changed its policy to ensure that pregnant inmates who are in any stage of labor are immediately taken to the hospital. Previously, decisions about whether to move a pregnant inmate were left to jail nurses.

David Lane, whose law firm is involved in both cases, said he believes they highlight problems both of privatizing health care behind bars.

‘As long as jail and prison administrators view inmates as animals these kinds of things will continue to happen,’ he said.

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