US woman left to give birth alone in jail cell sues Denver City

A Colorado woman is suing the city of Denver for causing her “unnecessary terror, pain and humiliation” after she was left alone in her jail cell while giving birth. Video footage of the harrowing ordeal shows Diana Sanchez, now 27, going into labor the morning of July 31, 2018.

Despite repeated calls for help, no guards or medical personnel entered her cell until she gave birth to her son. “What should have been one of the happiest days of her life was instead a day of unnecessary terror, pain and humiliation that continues to cause her ongoing emotional trauma,” Sanchez’s lawyer Mari Newman said in a complaint filed Wednesday.

The suit claims the city and county of Denver, Denver Health Medical Center, and six sheriff’s deputies and nurses “utterly failed to satisfy their legal and moral duty.” US Senator Kamala Harris, a candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, has weighed in on the issue, tweeting: “The inhuman treatment of detained pregnant women cannot be ignored.”

Sanchez had been arrested for charges of identity fraud on July 14, 2018, and was awaiting trial. According to the complaint, she was more than eight months pregnant when she was arrested.

Denver Health personnel were aware that Sanchez was pregnant, and that she was going through opiate withdrawal, making her imminent labor particularly risky, the complaint said.