In November 2002, Judy attended a homebirth which turned out to be an unexpected footling breech. A footling breech is a rare occurrence in which the baby's foot presents first, rather than the head. When she consulted with the parents, Heather and Jon Daley, about transporting to the hospital, they declined..
Judy attended the couple through the birth of their son, Isaac, and he was transferred to the hospital immediately following his birth. He died two days later.
While the Daleys strongly support Judy and do not wish to file charges, the Allegheny County Coroner held an inquest into the death of the baby and has recommended that charges of involuntary manslaughter be filed against Judy.
For local news coverage of the Coroner's Inquest, click here.
For updates on the court dates and events since the inquest, click here.
We, along with attorney, Stephen Colafella, believe that Judy is "being held to a higher standard simply because she is not licensed by the State and that "a licensed nurse wouldn't be put under the same scrutiny".
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, a baby dies every 4 days in Allegheny County Hospitals! (87 babies died at or near the time of birth in 2002 in Allegheny County) How many of the other 86 deaths were investigated and how many obstetricians were charged with murder in those cases?
There was testimony at the inquest that "the attending midwife should have insisted that (the mother) be taken to a hospital as soon as the baby's breech position was recognized."
This opinion is shared by Coroner Cyril Wecht in his assertion at the inquest that laboring women are unable to think rationally and thereby make decisions about their own care.
A spokeswoman for MANA, however, said that they believe that "the choice of seeking advanced medical help should always be left to the mother."
We strongly agree with MANA.
We've consulted our own experts and they are telling us there are "holes" in this case. Many of the statements made by the coroners office and reported in the local media are just plain wrong. Cyril Wecht has come under fire in the past for commenting on areas he is not experienced in and for stating his opinion as fact. We believe he has offered his opinion, rather than fact, in this case as well.
What it boils down to is this:
Judy Wilson is not a criminal. She is a caring, highly trained, highly skilled professional midwife who acted responsibly and did what her job demanded in this birth. Our experts in the area of breech births are willing to testify to that end.
Judy respected her clients' right of Informed Consent. Though Cyril Wecht appears ready to lead the fight in limiting the birth options of women in Pennsylvania, that is something we, as fellow home-birthers are ready to fight for.
The unfortunate reality of birth is that babies do die during the birth process, even under the care of physicians. Studies done comparing hospital and out-of-hospital births indicate fewer deaths, injuries and infections for homebirths supervised by a trained attendant than for hospital births. No such studies indicate that hospitals have better outcomes than homebirths.
Given the current fiscal crisis in Allegheny County, it makes no sense to spend millions of dollars trying a case that the parents of the baby, along with thousands of other citizens who have signed petitions, donated money, and attended rallies on Judy’s behalf, DO NOT want. It’s time to do the sensible and fiscally-responsible thing and dismiss this case before we waste any more taxpayer money!
