Birth morbidity for Black mothers has been an issue of increasing concern among medical experts for the past several decades, but that involves death from natural causes. The horrific incident that occurred when a newborn child was decapitated during delivery at Southern Regional Medical Center just outside of Atlanta defies anything that health advocates, the medical community or parents and non-parents alike can wrap their minds around.
On Aug. 9, Jessica Ross, 20, and her boyfriend, Treveon Isaiah Taylor Sr. alleged that their baby was decapitated when they went to deliver the young infant in July. The pair are suing the hospital Southern Regional Medical Center, and the doctor, Tracy St. Julian, who they alleged used “excessive force” during the fatal delivery.
What’s in the lawsuit?
On Wednesday, the couple filed the lawsuit in Clayton County with the help of their attorney Roderick Edmond, a medical malpractice lawyer.
During a press conference, Edmond said Ross and Taylor Sr.’s nightmare began when the young mother went into labor at Southern Region Medical Center on July 9 at 8:40 p.m. While pushing, the baby stopped descending, due to shoulder dystocia, a condition that can occur when a baby’s shoulders get stuck inside the pelvic girdle.
Edmond claimed that Dr. St. Julian pulled on the baby’s head and neck with too much force, causing bones in the infant’s neck, face and skull to break. After hours of manipulating and tugging on the baby, Dr. St. Julian called for an emergency stat Ceaseran Section at around 11:49 P.M.– over three hours after Ross went into delivery.
When the doctor cut into the young mother, she allegedly severed the baby’s head.
“The body came out and there was no head. The head was stuck in the vagina and the head subsequently was delivered vaginally,” Edmond stated during a press conference Wednesday. “Dr. St. Julian was grossly negligent for applying ridiculously…
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