DENVER, CO — A lawsuit has been filed against the City and County of Denver, Denver Health Medical Center and six people after a woman said she was forced to give birth to her baby alone in a Denver prison cell last year with no medical treatment.
Diana Sanchez said she told Denver Sheriff Department deputies that she was in labor at 5 a.m. on July 31, and she gave birth to her child in the cell at 10:44 a.m. — about an hour after her water broke, according to a lawsuit obtained by KDVR.
Sanchez said there was no medical treatment or supervision during her birth, the court documents show. She said prison employees, deputies and Denver Health nurses “callously made her labor alone for hours, and ultimately give birth alone in a dirty jail cell without any medical care,” the lawsuit states.
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A video from inside the prison cell obtained by KVDR shows Sanchez alone after giving birth with the baby under her legs. A nurse then walks in and picks up the baby.
“We empathize with anyone who is in jail while pregnant including Ms. Sanchez. We contract with Denver Health Medical to provide comprehensive medical care at both of our jails,” a sheriff’s spokeswoman said in a statement. “Denver Health medical professionals are housed in the jail facilities and have dedicated medical units to provide medical services for those in our care.”
The sheriff’s office said Sanchez was under the care of Denver health medical professionals at the time she gave birth.
“To make sure nothing like this happens again, the Denver Sheriff Department has changed its policies to ensure that pregnant inmates who are in any stage of labor are now transported immediately to the hospital,” the spokeswoman said. “Unfortunately, because there is a lawsuit pending, we are unable to provide further comment at this time.”
Denver Health said it is unable to comment due to the suit being a pending legal matter.