A pregnant inmate who said her premature baby died because jail staffers failed to respond appropriately after her water broke — and then stopped at Starbucks on the way to the hospital — has been granted a $480,000 settlement by the Orange County Board of Supervisors.
Sandra Quinones was in prison in California in March of 2016 for a sentence of 70 days for possession of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance for sales when her water broke at just six months pregnant. According to NBC News, she pushed the call button in her cell for two hours before staff finally responded. Then, the staff failed to call an ambulance and instead drove her to the hospital themselves, but on a “non-emergency basis.” The delay in receiving care, along with negligent treatment and other violations, said Quinones, caused her baby to die.
After her child’s death, Quinones filed a complaint against Orange County, claiming wrongful death and infliction of emotional distress relating to the death of her baby. She accused the staffers of acting with “deliberate indifference” towards her medical needs.
READ: Prison inmate delivers stillborn baby after pleas for help were ignored
According to The New York Times, the county requested that the federal lawsuit be tossed because the statute of limitations had passed, and while a district judge agreed and the case was dismissed in October 2020, an appeals court reversed that decision. The case was then sent back to the lower court before the settlement was reached.
There are an estimated 12,000 pregnant inmates in the U.S. each year, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, yet there are no federal standards of care for the treatment of pregnant and newly postpartum inmates. Pregnant women in prison are not likely to have adequate prenatal care available to them and just nine states have in-prison nurseries. Newborns are often separated from their mothers within a day of their birth.
In 2021, Minnesota became the first state to offer statewide conditional release to qualified pregnant inmates to receive treatment in a placement location throughout pregnancy and up to one year post-birth, allowing for her baby to stay with her for the first year of his or her life. Minnesota is also the only state that mandates that doulas assist laboring inmates — an effort that could ensure pregnant inmates and their babies receive proper care.
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