Woman Intentionally Disconnects Two-Month-Old Baby's Feeding Tube In Hospital

A woman volunteering at a hospital in Jerusalem was arrested for allegedly removing a baby’s feeding tube.

The unidentified woman, aged 21, is a volunteer for a nonprofit organization and was working at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center when the incident took place Sunday. She is accused of disconnecting the feeding tube of a two-month-old baby, who was reportedly suffering from breathing difficulties and was also connected to a respiratory machine, according to the Times of Israel.

Nurses quickly noticed that the baby’s feeding tube was disconnected and took charge of the situation before anything serious happened to the infant.

The woman confessed to the police about the incident and said she was mentally unstable. She reportedly suffers from bipolar disorder and told cops she committed the act because she felt “spiritual greatness and supremacy.”

Police believe this may not be the first time the woman is involved in such acts.

The woman was arrested but eventually released Sunday by the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court. Police cited the severity of the woman’s actions and the possibility of a tragic outcome as they asked the court to extend her arrest. The court still released her and placed her on house arrest.

The hospital released a statement following the incident and said the baby did not suffer any harm from the woman’s actions.

“The baby is under the constant supervision of the nursing and medical teams, and due to the suspicion and lack of clarity surrounding the incident, the police were called to investigate," Shaare Zedek said, as quoted by the Jerusalem Post.

The young woman was volunteering at Shaare Zedek through an external agency, and all the hospital volunteers undergo tests and background checks before being hired, the hospital said.

In an unrelated incident, an unidentified man in Iowa walked into a hospital, snuck past a nurse, and fed a baby that was not his. The man slipped through a secured area of the Des Moines hospital’s NICU and claimed to a staff member that he was the infant’s father. Surveillance footage captured the mystery man bottle-feeding a random baby before leaving the hospital. The baby was not in any harm following the bizarre incident.