Local woman accused of killing her unborn child

[The Straight Story]

Local woman accused of killing her unborn child
Top 10 stories of 2008

By Tom Smith
Senior Staff Writer

Published: Monday, December 22, 2008 at 3:30 a.m.

FLORENCE - On July 14, a local woman was arrested after she was accused of killing her unborn child by cutting the umbilical cord.

Jennifer Darlene Johnson, 30, of 1796 Lauderdale 7, Florence, was charged with manslaughter. She faces a sentence of two to 20 years in prison if convicted.

...

Florence police Capt. Ron Tyler said Johnson was seven months into her pregnancy when she was taken to Helen Keller Hospital in Sheffield on July 11, where her baby was delivered. Tyler said the baby was dead at birth.

"She said her water broke sometime Friday morning, and then she started experiencing pain and bleeding and was taken to Helen Keller Hospital," Tyler said.

He said medical personnel at Keller Hospital, during the course of the baby's delivery, discovered the umbilical cord had been "severed while still inside the mother's uterus."

"Investigators believe the evidence demonstrates that the death of the infant is directly related to the intentional severing of the umbilical cord," Tyler said.

Police believe the cord was severed while Johnson was at her boyfriend's house at Cherry Hill Homes in Florence. Officials said the boyfriend took Johnson to the hospital in a taxi after recognizing something was wrong with her.

http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20081222/ARTICLES/812220330/1011/NEWS?Title=No__10__Local_woman_accused_of_killing_her_unborn_child

[gollygee]

1. How did she do that?

Sever it while in the uterus? How could she?

[Recursion]

4. Yeah, I'm missing something here

Preventing back-alley stuff like this is one of the biggest reasons we should all be pro-choice; I really don't feel like I get this whole story yet.

[The Straight Story]

9. No Idea....

Hopefully someone else with more knowledge will chime in.

[gollygee]

14. The only thing I can think of

is if there was a cord prolapse, where it falls out, but the baby would have died without medical attention in that case anyway, and then even if she severed it I don't know how easy or possible it is to put the cord back in. It seems like it would still be hanging out, and the baby would be dead whether she had severed it or not.

But maybe we have an OB or a midwife or something on DU who can explain how this could happen. I'm puzzled.

[FedUpWithIt All]

31. That is the only conceivable way she could have done something like that BUT a prolapse is random.

WHY would she sever the cord? I mean the coincidence, her wanting to harm the baby and the lucky prolapse.

There is either more to the story or this woman might be the unfortunate victim of a very freak medical occurrence out of her control.

Very very odd story.

[slackmaster]

2. This is a very strange story

I wonder what she was thinking, and what really happened.

[atreides1]

3. How

How does someone cut an umbilical cord with the child still in the womb?

[OwnedByFerrets]

5. How the fuck would one do that??

[Xenotime]

6. Why was she arrested? Doesn't she have the right to choose?

[baldguy]

7. Not in Alabama

[slackmaster]

10. Third-trimester elective abortions are illegal in 49 states IIRC

The exception being Louisiana, and there it has to be performed by a licensed physician (which is true in all 50 states).

[Xenotime]

16. Hmm.. Thanks for making that clear.

[Gwendolyn]

8. How the HELL...

can a woman sever an umbilical cord when the child is in her uterus. :wow:

I hope this isn't a sign of times to come, where every miscarriage will be an excuse to prosecute. For some reason, this story makes me queasy.

[SoCalDem]

22. Remote control?

:eyes:

[sasquatch]

11. Never ever live in the south

[Kalyke]

36. You mean like Cincinnatti?

Because Tennessee has a ver liberal abortion protection law: http://www.tennessean.com/article/20081124/NEWS0201/811240355

But not for long.

Due to a state Supreme Court case Tennessee has stronger abortion protections than most states; however the Tennessee legislature is considering a constitutional amendment to specify nothing in state law explicitly protects the right to abortion, a process that will take six years and eventually require a two-thirds Congressional majority and vote by the people to pass: (via Tennessean).

[uppityperson]

12. This makes no sense. Search shows lots of blogs/forum talk,but little other info.

Very odd. Withholding comments until get more info.

[sarge43]

13. Without causing any physical trauma to herself?

That's some surgical technique.

My crap detector just went red line.

[Lance_Boyle]

15. INTENTIONAL severing of the umbilical cord?

OK, I'll grant them that with the proper tools and anatomic knowledge (and not just a little bit of trust on the part of the pregnant woman!), it is conceivable that the umbilical cord could be cut in utero. But that still requires proof that the damage to the cord was intentional. Unless the docs at Helen Keller had a webcam in the uterus, they're not going to have an easy time proving that.

[cali]

17. I don't see how.

How on earth do you get the proper tool inserted into the cervix, find and locate the umbilical cord and cut it? How do you do that yourself?

[1monster]

32. Impossible. There is not way a woman seven month pregnant could possibly

cut the umbilical cord while in utero.

It is simply anatomically impossible. Even without the baby bulge in the middle, it would be next to impossible for her to do.

[mrcheerful]

18. Never mind its in a red state and we know how bright them folks are about these topics

[Fumesucker]

19. Anyone want to take bets on the race of the woman in question?

Oh, and her financial status also?

[tammywammy]

20. She's white

http://www.nbc13.com/vtm/news/local/article/florence_umbilical_cord_death/27266/#fragment-2

[Fumesucker]

24. And wealthy? n/t

[tammywammy]

25. I dunno, the articles haven't commented on her job or financial status.

I prefer to not jump to conclusions.

[Fumesucker]

26. LOL.. That's what DU *does*...

Particularly when there is a real dearth of facts and some extremely odd goings on.

This story sends my BS meter off the scale and wraps the needle around the peg.

[tammywammy]

27. I know that's what "DU" does, I've been here a while

But then, that's not what *I* do. :shrug: But continue to feel free to speculate. I'm sure more info will come out about this lady in a day or so.

[Fumesucker]

29. The story is several months old..

I looked through the newspaper archives and didn't find anything significant about this story.

[Gwendolyn]

37. She must've been. Since they reduced the bail.

And she went into labor at her boyfriend's house. That always happens.

And always, rich people who have a miscarriages or unfortunate incident always get thrown into the spot light.

[YDogg]

21. pics or it didn't happen.

:popcorn:

[Cronus Protagonist]

23. Occam's razor is calling out to me loudly

If the BF or the mother did this themselves, one wonders why they would rush her to hospital when it would be better for them and their story if the baby was stillborn outside the hospital, where they could then claim they cut the cord after the birth to give the baby CPR or whatever? This one smells to high heaven.

[Crunchy Frog]

33. If it was a stillbirth they were after,

I don't know why they wouldn't have simply prolapsed the cord. Same results with a good deal less mess, and less risk to the mother, as well as less chance of being caught.

I'm really kind of skeptical on this. It seems to me like the Southern legal system likes to take any available excuse to go after a woman for something involving her reproductive tract.

[sarge43]

35. Sounds like a slow day at the local DA's office. Looking for some ink, maybe. n/t

[TygrBright]

28. Amazing. I wonder who she pissed off?

She must be one dangerous woman, if they're so desperate they'll grab onto something as transparently idiotic as this to get her put away.

suspiciously,
Bright

[Crunchy Frog]

30. I read about that on some midwife blogs

and the general consensus was that it would be virtually impossible for her to have done that, and that the more likely scenario was that the cord tore spontaneously.

I'd be curious to know what the actual medical qualifications were of the investigators.

[TahitiNut]

34. So, someone got a Home Endoscope Kit and was messing around?

:wtf: