Woman Forced To Give Birth On Floor Of Maryland Jail While Serving Time: Lawsuit

A woman who was held at a jail in Maryland in July 2021 filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday alleging that the jail nurses ignored her cries for help for hours as she went into labor, forcing her to give birth on the concrete floor amid unsanitary conditions.

Jazmin Valentine claimed in her lawsuit that the nurses at the jail in Hagerstown, Washington County, contacted the California-based Prime Care Medical, where staffers told them it was her struggle with drug withdrawal that was causing her pain, not pregnancy.

The woman further stated that some jail staffers and medical personnel scoffed at her, saying she was trying to trick them into letting her get out of her cell, WUSA-TV reported.

Valentine, who was eight months pregnant at the time, says that she continued to scream for six hours in pain but her pleas fell on deaf ears, adding that she removed what she believed was her baby's amniotic sac and slid it under her cell door to prove she was about to give birth, according to Miami Herald.

The lawsuit alleges that she was left on her own to give birth in solitary confinement without blankets or sheets.

A fellow inmate, upon hearing her pleas, allegedly called her boyfriend, who called the jail authorities pleading with them to help her.

Meanwhile, Valentine, who was sure by then that she wasn't going to receive any help, reportedly made up her mind to deliver her baby come what may. The first-time mother said she even feared her baby was going to die during delivery and, due to being born in "filthy" conditions, developed an infection caused by staph bacteria.

"In my brain, anything could happen," the woman said in the lawsuit. "I felt like I was in the hands of the devil, honestly."

The lawsuit further alleged that the jail nurses also ignored a concern raised by a jail deputy and didn't alert a superior. The deputy discovered Valentine and her baby 15 minutes after the birth and called an ambulance to take them to the hospital.

The woman has accused Washington County, the sheriff and his department, along with the nurses and deputies of the jail of violating her rights under state law and the Constitution, as per WUSA-TV.

The incident occurred just a day after Valentine was arrested for allegedly violating her probation. She was released several days after giving birth and said Tuesday that her baby is healthy.