[SharonAnne]

Wow.

Another reason I birth at home.

 

[minkajane]

You know what bugs me? If that baby had shown up right then and the trooper had caught it, he would have been hailed as a hero for "delivering a baby in a life-threatening situation". I read an article a while ago about a "hero" cop who delivered a baby on the side of the road. In the video, he is obviously panicking and screams for a knife to cut the cord. The knife was dirty and the baby got a blood infection and almost died because of it. And the cop was still hailed as a hero for "saving the baby's life" by catching him on the side of the road. Um, NO, you didn't save anybody's life, you almost killed him by using a knife to unnecessarily cut the cord!

 

[Mama~Love]

:

WTF, who does he think he is?!? What a *UAV*!!

 

[Storm Bride]

Did you see the comment where the guy says they weren't rushing, because she was still five hours away from giving birth? Wow - who knew? I can't tell how long my labour will be...my doctors can't tell...my midwife couldn't tell - but some random poster knows that the mom-to-be wasn't rushing, because she still had five whole hours. Obviously, she somehow knew that.

Ugh.

 

[calebsmommy25]

WTH! That is awful. What was the point in her proving she was pregnant if a ticket was going to be issued anyways? Yes, they broke the law by driving in the breakdown lane, and who knows their speed, but the woman was in labor. I would understand a warning for their speed, and where they were driving, BUT the officer should have let them go and help them to the hospital, either by escorting them or getting an ambulance for them. I do understand the ambulance would be hard though if there was a bad traffic jam.

I would be humiliated and pissed off beyond belief. I would've loved to get out of the car and have my water break on his shoe to PROVE that I was pregnant. Going with the officers actions, I would have to probably PROVE it to be my water breaking and not pee. What a dill-hole!

:

 

[SharonAnne]

I heard about this on the radio this morning, actually, and they said that the couple had been given permission by another officer, a few miles back, to ride in the breakdown lane because she was in labor. That's not mentioned in teh Brown commentary, so I'm not sure if it's true or not, but if it is, it just adds an extra layer of UAV to the officer's rep, in my book.

 

[Marsupialmom]

I guess I am jaded.........I have heard female co-workers admitting to getting out of tickets by saying they were to the hosipital and that they were having miscarriages.

I know one women that lie several times about being in labor to get out of tickets---it worked until a police officer insisted on excorting her. Then he wammied her with a huge ticket for everything he possibly could. Speeding, wreckless driving, driving w/o seat belt,

I do think the cop should have offered to call an ambulance or escorted them.........but I don't blame him for not believing him. It isn't always obvious if a woman's in labor or how far in labor. He is a cop not a medical specialist.

 

[yonit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by calebsmommy25 WTH! That is awful. What was the point in her proving she was pregnant if a ticket was going to be issued anyways? Yes, they broke the law by driving in the breakdown lane, and who knows their speed, but the woman was in labor. I would understand a warning for their speed, and where they were driving, BUT the officer should have let them go and help them to the hospital, either by escorting them or getting an ambulance for them. I do understand the ambulance would be hard though if there was a bad traffic jam.

Police Escorts aren't legal in MA. Also, the officer did offer to get her an ambulance and she said she didn't need one. Do I think she should have gotten a ticket? No not really. But they should have been driving safely too.

 

[gethane]

The husband was interviewed on some morning program I watched. They had stopped and asked SEVERAL troopers already who had given them verbal permission to very carefully drive in the lane they were in. The last trooper they asked, total UAV. The father, though, was so gracious about the whole thing and complimentary to the state troopers as a whole.

 

[Marsupialmom]

Maybe instead of calling state troppers names---maybe we should give them tools and proper protical for these types of situation.

Even if trooper A warned other troopers that they were coming through, trooper B might have been busy with the other person and not heard it.

 

[UUMom]

I heard her in a radio interview and she sounds like a very thoughtful person, actually. They were stopped by two other troopers, who told them they could drive in the break down lane when traffic was congested. She said they drove slowly in the breakdown lane for part of the time, and would get on and off depending on the whether the traffic was backed up. (I hate that area of Boston and at that time in the morning, around 8:30, it's a bumper to bumper horror. I can see being in labor and being worried, whether you were on your way to your own home for your own homebirth, or on the way to the hospital you chose to have your baby).

They refused the ambulance because they were only a couple of minutes from their exit and feared that they wouldn't get to the hospital in time if they waited for the ambulance-- who would have to deal with the same traffic.

You would think this trooper would have at least checked with the hospital to see if she had been admitted before sending in his ticket. If they had been lying, he could have gone ahead and processed the ticket. If he had called, he would have seen they were telling the truth. He had the option of not processing the ticket.

Seems he lacked absolute common sense, which is frightening. I am also guessing he probably has no experience with having a baby. At home or at a hospital.

 

[Pinoikoi]

So ridiculous.

 

[angelpie545]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gethane The husband was interviewed on some morning program I watched. They had stopped and asked SEVERAL troopers already who had given them verbal permission to very carefully drive in the lane they were in. The last trooper they asked, total UAV. The father, though, was so gracious about the whole thing and complimentary to the state troopers as a whole.

Given this information, I think the officer who issued the ticket should be reprimanded and should publicly apologize to the woman and her husband. The ticket should also be dropped in light of their situation and officer's atrocious behavior.

 

[rmzbm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by angelpie545 Given this information, I think the officer who issued the ticket should be reprimanded and should publicly apologize to the woman and her husband. The ticket should also be dropped in light of their situation and officer's atrocious behavior.

Agreed.

 

[crittersmom]

I'm sure I came close to having that happen with my third birth.we were pulled over for speeding and took so long for the officer to get to the car.he did let us pass and followed behind and wanted to know why we weren't going through emergency,I think my groan was enough answer.DD was born 7 minutes after I got there.
I think that officer needs to apologize and get some customer service/dealing with the public training.

 

[angie7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by minkajane You know what bugs me? I read an article a while ago about a "hero" cop who delivered a baby on the side of the road. In the video, he is obviously panicking and screams for a knife to cut the cord. The knife was dirty and the baby got a blood infection and almost died because of it. And the cop was still hailed as a hero for "saving the baby's life" by catching him on the side of the road. Um, NO, you didn't save anybody's life, you almost killed him by using a knife to unnecessarily cut the cord!

Ugh

: Why does everything think that the cord has to be cut right when the baby is born! That drives me

: It's not pumping poisons into the baby for cripes sake!

 

[Arduinna]

Well to play devils advocate on a NFL site, is labor always a medical emergency? I think the ticket was stupid, but I also think it's stupid to assume that every person in labor constitutes a medical emergency which is why people are speeding or driving outside normal traffic lanes ect. OMG must get to the hospital. That very concept pretty much against the idea that pregnancy and birth are NORMAL.

 

[Storm Bride]

It's absolutely not a medical emergency (unless there are complications, of course). That doesn't change the fact that it's widely portrayed as such by a wide variety of medical professionals, and most people think it is. In addition, once a woman is in the car on the way to the hospital, I think there is at least some validity to getting there quickly. While babies obviously can be born in cars, they lack every advantage of both home and the hospital.

 

[woodchick]

I'm conflicted over this story for a few reasons

*They were coming from a town probably 35-45 minutes away, having already passed a couple hospitals at least. I'm all for choice in birthing locations, but in a real and true emergency they could have altered their plans.

*The first two officers they talked to were on Route 3- a newly widened and repaved highway with large, safe breakdown lanes. The third officer was on Route 2, an old, windy, bumpy road with breakdown lanes that are basicially small sidewlks in many areas.

*I think the ticket was overkill.

*The officer was already in the middle of a traffic stop when Dad pulled up behind him. The delay they faced wasn't just becase the cop decided to be difficult- he was doing his job.

*I'm sure the officer hears "I'm speeding becasue I'm in labor" pretty often. Especially in MA where the average speed is around 80. The mom said, on the Boston news last night, that he asked what was under her coat and that she 'felt' like she was being asked to prove she was pregnant. Not that he forced her to open up.

*I'm sure that Mom and Dad were stressed and tired and just wanted to get to the hospital and I feel pretty bad for them.

Personally, I wish the officer had a little more compassion for the couple and I'm trying to have that kind of compassion for him.

 

[Yoshua]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Storm Bride It's absolutely not a medical emergency (unless there are complications, of course). That doesn't change the fact that it's widely portrayed as such by a wide variety of medical professionals, and most people think it is. In addition, once a woman is in the car on the way to the hospital, I think there is at least some validity to getting there quickly. While babies obviously can be born in cars, they lack every advantage of both home and the hospital.

:

We had to drive over 30 minutes to the birth center. thank god it was a holiday monday because had it been a normal monday Kaiya woulda been born in the car. As it was Kaiya was born 6 minutes after arriving at the birth center.