Homebirthed Newborn in Texas Forcibly Taken Away from Parents
In a case that highlights the growing power struggle between doctors, government officials and parents over medical treatment of children, a Black couple was finally reunited with their newborn daughter more than three weeks after the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services placed her in foster care over a disagreement about how the infant would be treated for jaundice.1
Following a successful home birth on Mar. 21, 2023, the mother, 38, took her daughter Mila for a routine checkup where her pediatrician recommended treatment for jaundice. The family then decided to treat the baby at home under the care of their midwife.
A common newborn ailment that causes a yellowing of the skin and eyes due to too much bilirubin in the body, jaundice is generally unharmful and improves on its own without treatment in most newborns. The parents, together with their midwife, had already begun treating Mila at home with breastfeeding and sunlight, both of which are commonly prescribed and effective treatments for jaundice.2
Later that evening, Mrs. Jackson was reportedly barraged with text messages from her pediatrician, who threatened to call Child Protective Services (CPS) if they did not take the baby to the hospital for jaundice treatment. A week later, on Mar. 28, police helped CPS forcibly remove the newborn from the family’s home and she was placed in foster care where her parents were allowed less than a handful of supervised visits over the next three weeks.3
“I authorized the support of CPS to help get this baby get the care that was medically necessary and needed,” the Jacksons’ pediatrician, Anand Bhat, MD, told the court. CPS, in agreement, wrote that “due to the parents being unwilling to discuss the danger and potential consequences of this condition, it is necessary for the department to intervene.”
Father Arrested, Infant Taken From Mother’s Arms
Mrs. Jackson recounted that the officers arrested her husband, taking his keys and using them to enter their home where they ultimately peeled Mila from her mother’s arms. “When they came in and took her from me, I requested that I needed to see the paperwork. They insisted, ‘No, give her first, give her first,'” she said at the press conference. “So they took her from my arms and they gave me paperwork. When they left, I looked at the paperwork and the paperwork had another mother’s name on it.”4
During one of the few visits they were allotted, the Jacksons noticed what they described in an Apr. 6 press conference as red bumps and white discharge in their child’s vaginal area during a diaper change. Mrs. Jackson wanted to take the infant to the doctor, but was told by CPS that the foster parent would assume that responsibility.5
Weaponizing Medical Mistrust Among People of Color
The sequence of events that led to Mila’s forcible removal from parents by CPS shines a light on retaliatory, authoritarian behavior among too many medical care providers and government officials are engaging in today, especially toward people of color expressing distrust. The letter from Dr. Bhat alleged that the infant’s parents distrusted the medical-industrial complex.
Racial disparities that persist in American health care today have fostered trust issues in the Black community. For example, maternal and infant death rates Black individuals are disproportionately high. Additionally, a 2019 study published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine found that Black patients were 40 percent less likely to receive medication for acute pain compared to White patients, and 34 percent less likely to be prescribed opioids.6 7 A recent report by the Kaiser Family Foundation found a number of alarming statistics affecting people of color, including disparities in suicide rates, drug overdoses, mental illness, and disproportionate barriers to accessing mental health care.8
200 Percent Increase in Medical Errors Fuels Growing Distrust
Among existing trust issues among many patients—Black and White—is a fear of medical errors made at the hands of tired, depressed healthcare providers. Since the onset of the pandemic, medical errors have skyrocketed to a staggering 200 percent among burned-out frontline medical workers, according to one study. At the end of 2021, nearly 63 percent of physicians reported symptoms of burnout, up 38 percent from the prior year.9 10
The Jackson family took to social media to plead for their daughter’s return while other advocacy groups held protests. “The doctor gave them options for care that the family agreed to follow,” a doula and birth justice advocate told NBC News. “They even agreed to connect the doctor with their midwife, but they were clear that they were keeping their baby under the midwife’s care. It felt like retaliation from the doctor.”11
In addition to respecting doctor-patient confidentiality, doctors are obligated to act in the best interest of their patients while respecting their autonomy. According to the American Medical Journal of Ethics, “When an autonomous patient’s stated wishes and actions are not aligned, the physician must both respect the patient’s decision and keep his wishes confidential if he has asked her not to disclose them.”12
“I did not know where to turn. They had taken my husband from me and then took my daughter from me and I was left by myself,” Mrs. Jackson lamented.
Reportedly, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services denied multiple requests for comment, with a spokesperson citing that “CPS cases in Texas are confidential, therefore I am not able to discuss any details of the case.”13
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