Woman Files Lawsuit After She Was Allegedly Forced To Give Birth Alone In Jail Call

A former inmate is suing officials after claiming she was left to give birth alone in her jail cell without medical any medical assistance - despite her repeated cries for help.

Diana Sanchez gave birth to Jordan on 31 July 2018 in Denver County jail, having been taken into custody two weeks earlier for identity theft-related charges.

She is now suing Denver city and county officials, claiming she was left in agony for more than an hour with no support whatsoever.

Surveillance footage shows the 26-year-old screaming in pain as she gives birth to her son, after guards reportedly refused to come to her aid or call an ambulance - even though she had warned she was going into labour six hours previously.

Speaking to KDVR, she said: "I felt helpless. Nobody was helping me. There were so many people there and nobody lifted a finger basically.

"That pain, it's just, it's indescribable. What hurts me more is the fact that nobody cared."

KDVR

Diana and her attorneys filed a lawsuit on Wednesday and claim staff knew she was giving birth but chose not to take her to hospital.

An internal investigation into the incident was launched by Denver Sheriff Department and a spokesperson told KDVR it concluded deputies 'took the appropriate actions under the circumstances and followed the relevant policies and procedures.'

The spokesperson added: "Policy has since been clarified that when an inmate is in labour, an emergency ambulance will be called."

Mari Newman, an attorney for Diana, said she was 'profoundly disappointed' by the investigation.

Speaking to The Washington Post, she said: "That's just emblematic of how broken the system really is.

"They claim to have done a review and their conclusion is that nothing was wrong with the fact that a woman was never taken to the hospital and ended up giving birth in a dirty, cold, hard jail cell. It's really unfathomable."

The city and county of Denver and the Denver Health Medical Center are named in the lawsuit, as well as county jail staff members Rachime Herch, Nina Chacon, Alexandra Wherry, Michael Hart, Tysen Garcia and Justin Albee.

Topics: US News

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey