Naomi asks for our reactions to this story:
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/212/metro/Refusing_help_woman_gives_birth_
aboard_T+.shtml
This is indeed unusual behavior for a woman in labor, but then the
circumstances were plenty unusual too.  How safe can you feel to go totally
into your 'birthing space', with strangers all around you on a public
conveyance?  It is especially odd that she seems to have made no move to
keep the baby from hitting the floor.
The comments from her family, as reported in the article, are more
disquieting, and do support the picture of a person with some disturbances
around close relationships.  Was there no phone at the Motel 6?  Would not
an employee have been willing to summon help for her, had they known she was
in labor?  Where was she headed when the police stopped her?
The cord-clamping procedure described was also interesting, as was her
management of third stage: SPLAT!, then just pick up the placenta, put it in
your handbag, and keep walking.  It is unclear whether it was still attached
to the baby, and if so, that police car must have been some kind of mess
afterwards!
Personally I find it reassuring that she is being observed, and that she has
family who seem to look out for her other children.  She sounds very, very
alone in the world.
Just my thoughts.
Rachel Myr, writing more as a midwife than an IBCLC now
Kristiansand, Norway

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