A high-risk pregnancy

Anita Wadhwani-newsbreak.com-A pregnant inmate who went into labor in a Loudon County jail was callously denigrated by guards and repeatedly denied medical care until her water broke, forcing her to deliver a premature baby in the back of an ambulance en route a local hospital, a newly filed lawsuit claims.

The baby — a girl — was born with complete deafness in one ear and limited hearing in the other; prompt medical care may have allowed the pregnancy to continue to term, according to a federal lawsuit filed last week against Loudon County and five unnamed employees of the Loudon County Sheriff’s Department.

Genny Jones, the former inmate, is seeking unspecified monetary damages, payment of all future medical expenses for her daughter, mandatory training for jail staff — and a finding that the county violated her constitutional rights during her confinement last year at the jail in Lenoir City, located about halfway between Knoxville and Chattanooga.

“No matter what a person’s circumstances are, maternal health should never be disregarded like was the case with Ms. Jones,” a statement from Heather Collins and Ashley Walter of HMC Civil Rights Law, Jones’ Brentwood-based attorneys, said.

A woman with a high-risk pregnancy was jailed in Loudon County on a years-old driving under the influence charge. While experiencing labor symptoms, a Loudon County jail guard told her to “sit your ass down.”

County officials and the sheriff’s office did not respond to phone and email requests for comment; the county has not yet filed its legal response to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Knoxville on Friday, detailed Jones’ version of events at the jail in November 2022:

Jones was living in Missouri, seven-and-a-half months into a high-risk pregnancy, when a bail bondsman took her into custody on a years-old driving-under-the-influence charge

She had just been ordered to begin bed rest by her doctor. Once in Loudon County, she told jailers her pregnancy was high risk.

A two-year old Tennessee law requires prison and jail officials to inform pregnant inmates of their right to prenatal care, and to provide appropriate nutrition and medically necessary pre- and post-natal care.

But Jones wasn’t offered medical care or screening. And shortly after she was incarcerated, Jones began to experience labor symptoms that were dismissed by a guard who told her to “‘sit your ass down.’”

When Jones began vomiting, the guard called her a “sick bitch” and told to clean herself up.

For the next two to three hours, Jones continued to plead for medical treatment. Then — after getting permission to use the bathroom —Jones felt the baby’s head through the opening of her vaginal canal. She saw blood.

“Ms Jones showed a bloodied toilet paper to the restroom camera in an effort to get the officers’ attention. In response, a female officer…said, ‘you are a pain in my ass.’”

Jones was given a dirty blanket to sit on “while she waited on the bathroom floor until her water broke.”

It was only then that jailers called for an ambulance.

“If Ms. Jones had arrived at the hospital earlier, they would have been able to stop the active labor, allowing the pregnancy to continue to full term,” the suit said.

“Because Ms. Jones gave birth prematurely, due to LCSO’s deliberate indifference, the baby was unable to fully develop full audiological function, resulting in complete deafness in one ear and only thirty percent function in the other.”

After the baby’s birth, a male officer was assigned to remain in her hospital room until she was taken back to the jail eighteen hours later, depriving Jones of the chance to bond with her daughter. She was also denied the ability to express breast milk.

A short while later, she was released from jail on her own recognizance.

Senate Minority Leader Raumesh Akbar, a Memphis Democrat who sponsored 2020 legislation requiring all jails and prisons to provide medically necessary care to pregnant inmates, said she was angered at the lawsuit’s allegations.

The legislation applies to state prisons as well as jails, but was chiefly aimed at ensuring uniform approaches to pregnant inmates in local jails across Tennessee, particularly in smaller counties, she said.

“It’s sad and makes me angry,” Akbari said. “It’s extremely disappointing, because we were trying to avoid this exact same scenario.”

Click Here To Read Genny Jones v Loudon County