Re case of hepatitis B and baby being taken away from mom. Actually, if this is the case in Columbus, Ohio and on the front page of the Dispatch, this mom had Hepatis C, a history of drug abuse, and first 2 children being placed with her mother in Colorado. But the headlines really pushed the Breastfeeding issue. There is a lot of flack right now about the fact that there is no study indicating the unsafeness of breastfeeding with hepatitis C, so hopefully that will come out and educate more people. It is horrendous that they took her baby away with the small amount of circumstantial evidence. I worked in a PP dept for many years and was always perplexed about which babies were taken away and which were allowed to go home with mother. Social services doesn't seem to have definite guidelines. I've seen mothers taking babies home on drugs and with severe postpartum depression and seen babies taken away and put in foster care for history of drug abuse (even though mother was clea!
n at the time). My experience wi
th this is that social services doesn't like women with strong personalities ("she has an attitude") and if the families ("are nice people") they can have the babies. That is what I read into this case. I don't think it was the history or the breastfeeding issue. I think it was because the mother was verbal with "an attitude" that the whole thing escalated. Needless to say it is a shame and tells us that the government (social services) does not always wield their power hammer fairly. Do they have too much power? Me thinks so.
Cheryl Muller, RNC, IBCLC

Date:    Thu, 16 Aug 2001 07:27:39 -0400
From:    Susan Hergert <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Hepatitis B Case... serious implications.
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Does anyone know about this? Linda Smith?

> Columbus, Ohio USA: A hepatitis's B positive mother has been denied
her
parental rights. last Thursday her son was born and soon after the new
mom
started breastfeeding the neonate, after being told by Doctors hospital
West
nurses that it was dangerous for her baby to be breastfeed with this
infection. The mother had sought other experts before starting
breastfeeding
to be on the safe side. She was advised it was safe and there was little

chance of infecting her newborn, according to the News Center News on
WTVN
Channel 6 at 5 PM EST, this was broadcasted Wednesday, August 15, 2001.
>
> The baby has been taken into court custody and placed into temporary
foster care by non family members. Mother, Nicole Davidson has a past
history of domestic violence which was used in court to remove her
child,
she now has only supervised visits with her newborn and no longer can
she
breastfeed her baby. Where does the rights of a society begin and the
rights
of a parent begin.
>
> Obviously not in America if the last weeks news is any indication.
>

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