stillborn

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A Maligned, Centuries-Old Test Is Still Used in Murder Cases

ProPublica digs into the criticisms of the 'lung float' test in regard to stillborn babies

(Newser) - It's called the "lung float" test, and, as ProPublica explains, the name is an accurate one. The test first emerged centuries ago as a way to determine if a baby was born stillborn or murdered. The infant's lungs would be placed in water and if they floated—...

There Are Unused Ways to Get Answers After Stillbirths

In 2020, autopsies only happened 20% of the time

(Newser) - Each year, some 20,000 pregnancies in the US end in stillbirth. In a lengthy piece for ProPublica , Duaa Eldeib explains that we have tools that can offer grieving would-be parents answers in many of those cases—but those tools are underutilized. Eldeib cites stats that show placental exams can...

Pregnant Women Jailed Here for Drugs Have Only One Way Out

They're kept behind bars in Etowah County, Ala., unless they go to rehab, pay $10K

(Newser) - Multiple pregnant women or new moms are behind bars in an Alabama prison after being arrested for drug use, and they're being kept there for "weeks or months" on end under "special conditions," per AL.com . The outlet reports that the women involved, accused of exposing...

Mom Who Left Baby in Woods in 1993 Convicted of Murder

Ohio's Gail Eastwood-Ritchey now faces life in prison in 'Geauga's Child' case

(Newser) - An Ohio woman who abandoned her newborn in the woods nearly 30 years ago was convicted of murder Monday and now faces up to life in prison. Gail Eastwood-Ritchey was "stoic" as the verdict was read in court, though one of her lawyers "widened his eyes, seeming stunned,...

Murder Charges Dropped Against Mom Who Had Stillbirth

Calif. judge says not enough proof Chelsea Becker knew her meth use might harm fetus

(Newser) - In September 2019, 26-year-old Chelsea Becker, who was 8 1/2 months pregnant, delivered a stillborn baby. Two months later, she was arrested and charged with murder, accused of taking meth just days before her stillbirth. Those charges have now been dismissed, with a California judge ruling that prosecutors didn't...

NZ OKs Paid Leave for Parents Grieving 'Strange, Secret Birth'

Kiwis approve legislation that gives couples 3 days off to deal with loss after miscarriage or stillbirth

(Newser) - "A miscarriage is a strange, secret birth that is also a death," wrote Kathryn van Beek in 2018 after suffering her own. That's why the New Zealand author is celebrating this week after her country's Parliament gave the green light to legislation that will offer three...

AG Sides With Defendant on Stillbirth Murder Charge

California woman was charged after an autopsy found meth in her child's system

(Newser) - A woman awaiting trial on a murder charge has received unexpected support from California's top prosecutor. Attorney General Xavier Becerra has filed a brief with the court calling for the case against Chelsea Cheyenne Becker to be dropped, CNN reports. Becker gave birth to a stillborn child last September...

Case of Stillborn Baby Ruled a Homicide

Mother Chelsea Becker is charged with first-degree murder

(Newser) - A California woman has been charged with the murder of her own baby, a stillborn whose system reportedly showed toxic levels of methamphetamine. Chelsea Cheyenne Becker, 25, was arrested Tuesday after a coroner described the Sept. 10 case as a homicide and police issued a warrant on a charge of...

Gauge of a 'Political Mood': a Teen Rape Victim's Retrial

Evelyn Hernandez, jailed in El Salvador after a stillbirth, will get a new day in court

(Newser) - A teen rape victim in El Salvador convicted in 2017 of murder and sentenced to 30 years in jail after a stillbirth will face a new day in court Monday. Reuters reports Evelyn Beatriz Hernandez, now 21, will be retried, and this time advocates are hoping she'll be acquitted....

Research on 'Alien' Skeleton Causes Outrage in Chile

Body of stillborn girl was dug up near church

(Newser) - A tiny skeleton long rumored to be some kind of alien-human hybrid is actually the body of a stillborn baby girl , researchers say—and the finding has caused outrage in Chile, where the body was dug up near an abandoned Catholic church in 2003. Chilean scientists say it appears that...

Lawsuit: Hospital Threw Stillborn Baby in Dirty Laundry
Laundry Workers Made Awful
Discovery. Now, a Lawsuit
in case you missed it
Oct 14, 2017 3:39 PM CDT

Laundry Workers Made Awful Discovery. Now, a Lawsuit

Stillborn was thrown into hospital's dirty linens in 2013 incident, complaint alleges

(Newser) - A family is suing a Minnesota hospital for making a personal tragedy worse four years ago. Esmerelda Hernandez prematurely gave birth to Jose, a stillborn boy, in April 2013 at St. Paul's Regions Hospital, the Twin Cities Pioneer Press reports. As she and her family mourned Jose in her...

Newborn's Remains Go Missing From Hospital

Nearby landfill in Cincinnati being searched

(Newser) - Two weeks after a baby boy died shortly after birth at a Cincinnati hospital, crews were combing through the hospital's medical waste and laundry at a nearby landfill in hopes of locating the newborn's remains to return to his grieving parents, WKRC reports. And explanations from the University...

We're Losing More Babies to Stillbirth Than Infant Death

Though the difference is slight

(Newser) - For as long as we have been gathering the data, more babies have died before reaching their first birthday (so-called infant deaths) than those who died in the second half of pregnancy (aka stillborns). Until now. Researchers with the National Center for Health Statistics yesterday released a report that shows...

One in 160 Pregnancies End in Stillbirth. Mine Did

Dr. Eleni Michailidis discusses what is 'rarely discussed' in the NYT

(Newser) - The percentage sounds small: just one-sixth of one percent. But the number sounds huge: One in 160 pregnancies end in a stillbirth, and Dr. Eleni Michailidis' was one of them. The 38-year-old orthodontist opens up to the New York Times , recounting an experience that the paper notes is "rarely...

Dad Visited Incorrect Grave for Years

Father grieved over stillborn son in wrong spot because of mixup

(Newser) - For seven years, a man in Westminster, Colo., regularly visited the grave of his stillborn son. Or so he thought. NBC 9 Colorado reports that Vance Abeyta learned this year that his son, Quincy, was actually buried in a different spot in Mt. Olivet Cemetery. It seems the Catholic Archdiocese...

'Stillborn' Baby Found Alive in Coffin

Baby showed no signs of life, but 12 hours later was fine

(Newser) - A premature baby pronounced stillborn was found alive and well 12 hours later—in her coffin in the hospital morgue, reports the BBC . Analia Bouter was six months pregnant when she gave birth in a northern Argentina hospital, but the baby showed no signs of life. "That night I...

Woman's Sleeping Position May Affect Stillbirth Risk

Those who lie on their left side have less risk, study suggests

(Newser) - A British study suggests that women who sleep on their left side on the last night of pregnancy have less risk of giving birth to a stillborn child, reports the Guardian . The researchers were quick to say their study in the British Medical Journal is only the "starting point...

Miracle Baby Elephant Struts His Stuff
 Miracle Baby 
 Elephant Struts 
 His Stuff 
meet mr. shuffles
Mar 15, 2010 12:26 PM CDT

Miracle Baby Elephant Struts His Stuff

Unnamed Australian calf was thought dead in the womb

(Newser) - A baby elephant who went into a coma in the womb while his mother spent a full week in labor has made his public debut at a Sydney zoo. Nicknamed Mr. Shuffles for his early difficulty walking, the calf captivated onlookers with his first shambling spin around his enclosure. “...

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