Blind Couple Reunited With Baby Taken Away by State

What kind of nurse waits until the baby blue and does not intervenes? Oh I'll just wait until the baby nearly suffocates and then report it to social services.

I hope they sue the SHI!!! out of them.

I agree completely! And even if the nurse's intentions were pure, it just wasn't her place to pass such judgments. (Normally I'm against any stupid case where other people jump on the bandwagon and try to make it into something bigger -- eg: the government is wrong/flawed!! -- but to take someone's child away from them - a newborn at that - is just cruel.)

I agree that the state refuses to help mothers with disabilities - they're way too eager to grab babies from mothers at hospitals - scary that they get away with it - by not offering the help that is needed there are going to be problems - they need better investigative work for those babies truly and really in danger and help and support to get mothers and babies away from domestic violence and out of poverty - after all, this is the objective right - to keep families together rather than rip them apart - I wonder sometimes what is going on with so much lack of support - too many adoptive parents trying to adopt - perhaps all this throwing custody into the hands of complete strangers needs investigation - foster care is dangerous psychologically all the way around - very rarely do they truly love the children. Not so for many adoptive, however. Mothers need more help from caring, loving people - children are being traumatized by this!!!!!!! (to all 50 great states)

I definitely agree with you LS!

It hurt me so bad when I read this. I cried for them! I wonder if people ever think about what they say before they say it or if they ever think about if they were in those shoes!?!?!

Yeah, they maybe blind but they are no different from anyone else and definitely should get their child taken away!! This is ridiculous! I also hope that they are set for life, they deserve it!!

Lol...You are such an idiot. The baby turned blue for God's sake BEFORE she realized there was a problem. And lynn, you boob, (no pun intended), there is a big difference between a mother having a problem with a newborn latching on, a common problem, and a mother nearly suffocating the baby because she COULD NOT SEE. Yes, she finally realized there was a problem...after the baby was instinctively thrashing for its tiny little life.I'm not making a judgement on whether the child should have or should not have been taken into custody, but either way you do not get near all the facts in a small article on the internet, you dipsticks.

Why do people think the nurse was in the wrong? The nurse saw the baby turning blue becucause the mom was smothering the child with her breast. THe mother was not able to see this. The nurse did the right thing. The parents need a class & need to be aware of things that can happen, like smothering the infant while breast feeding for one thing. It takes a second for a small infant to stop breathing.

I don't think the child should be taken away, but the state should pay for someone to help these parents the first month or so. To at least watch & see how things are ran.

I know blind people have their own way of seeing, but accidents happen all the time, even to someone who isn't blind. They should count their lucky stars the nurse caught the baby turning blue before it was to late.

Now someone needs to teach this mother how to monitor her child's breathing while breastfeeding. DOH!

Not to sound to rude but when you comment on hoping that this family remains to be set for life, remember they are on SSI and have been/will be set for life whether or not there is any monetary value in a law suit. A family should never be separated from their baby due to a handicap but clearly this mother needs specialized training if she almost suffocated her child accidentally. Just imagine had the nurse not stepped in and commented and this couple did not realize how much aid they needed. I think this is a sad case but lets be honest in the situation the headlines could have easily been "handicapped mother accidentally suffocates child".

Good evening All,

First off, let me address Midge, Leigh, Susan, the couple's IDIOT nurse, and any additional IDIOTS out there. You people need to crawl back to the Stone Age with that mind set. It is people like the mentioned, that slows down progress. Please check your compassion, common sense, and intelligence gage level. I think they are running in the low range and needs to be refilled. Anyways, enough of that.

This case is about the nurse using common sense, the training, and compassion for another being. Had that nurse had any of these or all of these qualities, this would have NEVER happened in the first place. I am sure this is a very unusual case for the nurse, to have both parents with the lost of sight. That is the MORE reason for the nurse to care even more than usual, go the extra mile, and made sure that there was adequate support.

But sadly, common sense ISN'T SO COMMON anymore.

We also need to STOP being prejudice towards people with a handicap or any other differences. They are just as good or EVEN BETTER than most "normal people". Don't believe me? Look at Helen Keller, Louise Braille, and especially the story of Craig Dietz...You should read about his courages story.

Thank you LS and the many great nurses and people out there that make this world a better place.

That's just like those busy body's out there, always got their nose where it does not belong, But you know if they did not do things like that they wouldn't have jobs. So they make those kind of things happen

THIS IS DISCRIMINATION in the greatest form. I am a mother of a son, who is blind. He and his wife (who is blind, also) have been married over 10 years. They have a 7 year old (sighted) daughter and they live their lives in a 3 bedroom home, they are paying for! HOW DARE the Social Services to rip this child from its parents! There are way too many busy body, do gooders in this world. My daughter in law had a C section, just like a "sighted pregnant woman". She went home, just like a "sighted mother" and my son took very good care of her and the baby. Let's talk about frivolous lawsuits, AND then let's PUT THIS ONE in an attorney's hands. MAYBE, just MAYBE, the state will have to pay them enough, that they won't have to worry about hiring a "sighted" person, to help them. GOOD LUCK KIDS, I am in your corner. God bless you and your family.

I am a mother of two and if this had been done to me I would have been fighting mad. This child had no time to bond with her (mother) parents. That mother has God given instincts on how to take care of her baby. Did the article say the mother felt something was wrong when she was nursing the baby and moved her to the other breast. That is a God given instinct. It's just to bad that instead of the nurse getting help for this mother when she saw that she needed help she goes and writes a report. I think she should be fired or she needs more traning in her field.

To the doctor involved where were his/her ethics as a doctor to patience? He/she should have told them (parents) of or put them in touch with some organization that could have assisted them. He/she is at fault too.

Now for the social worker truly here is a situation for review of her need for more training in compassion. She should have at least investigated this situation closer by observing the parent when the baby was as home with them to see if more action was needed in the sense of getting someone to come in for a short period to help them out before snatching their baby (what a cutie). She need to undergo more training - she was wrong. Ms Johnson diminstrated the right kind of spirit in this whole senerio she forgave and that is good.

If you agreed with what that nurse did in writing her report instead of getting the help this mother needed I give you the highest BIMBO award!!!

I also, say all lawsuits are not bad and in this case it will shine a light on a wrong righted that can help the next person. This was discrimination no ifs, ands, or buts about it. I hope it goes to court as such and I hope they get the max restitution out of it and I hope somewhere in TV land this story is aired because it needs to be heard.

Glad this baby is back with the parents and I hope they will do the right thing concerning their relationship.

"They do not have the luxury of using common sense... "

First of all, EVERYBODY has the "luxury" and the obligation to use common sense. That nurse wrote in the chart, "The child is without proper custody, support or care due to both of (the) parents being blind, and they do not have specialized training to assist them."

That is a complete crock. If a sighted mother needs help with breast feeding (I was one of them), a nurse who specializes in the training is called in. If she is not immediately available, baby is given a bottle with formula until help arrives.

As I stated previously, ALL hospitals know of the existence of the National Federation for the Blind, as well as their own state's department for the blind (if one exists). Personal experience tells me that, in an emergency situation, help from one of those organizations is, literally, a phone call away.

If the baby was indeed turning blue, why didn't that nurse offer to help, instead of calling in Social Services?

Of course, giving the nurse the benefit of the doubt (which I'm willing to do, because we don't have all the information), why didn't Social Services call one of those organizations in to help? Oh, yeah, the first reaction is to take the child(ren) and sort out the fallout later. Because apparently, children are ALWAYS better in foster care.

Thank you Frances for your well thought out INFORMED post. Thank you for not getting all defensive and personalizing the issue. The nurse was absolutely right to write what she did in the chart. You are right that they have rules to follow. Common sense dictates she follows the rules or be fired from her job as a nurse. If she hadn't noted the chart and these parents took the baby home and it did suffocate after that then the nurse would have been willfully negligent. If social services dropped the ball after she noted the chart, that is on them but that nurse did her job. The baby was turning blue and the new mother had no way to tell that her baby was suffocating (She felt that something was wrong, thank God she's a psychic!). If she'd been at home, neither would her blind husband. I'm all for letting differently-abled people have a normal life but you have to draw the line when a baby's life is in danger. This is so different from a 'first time mother having trouble breastfeeding' that it isn't even funny. She wasn't having trouble BFing, her child's nostril's were blocked and she couldn't tell. Her child was turning blue and she couldn't tell. This wasn't 'failure to latch' it was almost involuntary manslaughter. Let the thumbs down begin. But if you respond to me then do so from a position of objectivity and don't personalize the issue.

This story breaks my heart. But I have to agree with Frances. Had the nurse not seen the baby turn blue, she would be dead right now. They should have offered them help not take their baby from them. As a mom who has NEVER left her children's side until they were already talking....this story is a nightmare!

If you notice the article does state mom knew something was wrong switched the baby to the other breast but the nurse said not before the baby turned blue. We’re not talking about a baby that stopped breathing here I have six kids and occasionally a baby can turn blue for many reasons this could have been due to positioning. Regardless there are monitors that can be placed on this baby that could have determined if it was happening because mom was feeding baby or the position or what not. I have worked OB what this nurse did is appalling. This mom has now missed 57 days of giving her breast milk and unless she has pumped for those days will no longer have that opportunity. Funny how the kids that really need protection get overlooked by the state but the ones whose parents could have been given resources are ripped from their parents. It’s sad that parents who are trying to do the right thing have to worry about the state more than those who openly abuse their children.