Pregnant woman asks for help, gets ticket and asked to PROVE she's pregnant.
By Taskr36
@Taskr36 (13963)
United States
December 6, 2008 10:00am CST
What is with police lately? This isn't the first time I've heard of a pregnant couple being ticketed and forced to wait by police when rushing to the hospital. The last time this happened in Florida the police chief defended the trooper saying he was "diligent in his duties as an officer".
"(CNN) -- A pregnant woman and her husband are rushing to the hospital in the breakdown lane of a Massachusetts highway.
The story comes from the Boston Globe. Yes, the couple is going fast. Yes, they're in the breakdown lane. But the woman is in labor, there's a big traffic jam, and they're in a considerable hurry for fairly obvious reasons.
So they pull up behind a state trooper to ask for his help in getting to the hospital. Do they get his help? They do not. They get a ticket instead, for $100, and have to wait while the cop finishes the ticket he was already writing for someone else.
And after this woman in labor and her husband have been made to cool their heels and have been slapped with a $100 dollar ticket -- after all that -- the trooper tops it off by asking Jennifer Davis, the woman in question, to prove she was pregnant.
According to Jennifer Davis, the trooper said, "what's under your jacket?" She said, "my belly." To which the trooper responded, "okay, let's see it." She was wearing a jacket, it seems, and so perhaps this intrepid law enforcer thought she and her husband were stealing a very large beach ball or something."
So my question to you guys is, do police need to be trained on how to properly deal with pregnant women rushing to the hospital? Should they really be allowed to ticket people when it is obviously a special situation? I really think they should be trained to help these people get to the hospital quickly to avoid such a situation. Ticketing them and forcing them to wait is both rude and dangerous if they are about to go into labor. Pairing that with the officer demanding to see the woman's stomach I personally think he deserves a reprimand, but I'm sure that won't happen.
3 people like this
19 responses
@ganderlot (351)
• United States
6 Dec 08
I believe this was the same story where they were already stopped by two troopers who let her go. I would think the officers have dealt with enough people to know if they are telling the truth or not. Aren't you a little sweaty when in labor?
I haven't heard of any actually faking pregnancy to drive in the breakdown lane, was there a rash of these incidents I haven't heard of. Regards
@ganderlot (351)
• United States
7 Dec 08
No disrespect but my sister had a home birth and it was obvious when she was in labor.
@morningstar369 (495)
• United States
7 Dec 08
That is just plain nuts. That officer could cause problems with the baby and the birthing. Not to mention the Mom. Thats no light weight pain I can tell you!!!! I think the police have had to deal with so much crime that they are totally jaded. They consider everyone to be guilty of something first. It seems they have lost their humanity. I know it is a very hard job they have with all the crime and criminals doing awful things to escape them. I think something should be done for sure about this kind of treatment of a Mom about to deliver her Baby. It used to be that the police would litterly drop everything and rush the Mom to the Hospital or give them a police escort. Spmething is seriously wrong here and needs to be addressed!!!!!
1 person likes this
@twoey68 (13627)
• United States
27 Aug 09
While I can see them trying to keep other drivers safe, it is rather stupid to make a woman in labor sit by the side of the road. I think if it was me, I'd just call an ambulance and let them use the sirens all the way there...then maybe send the ambulance bill to the police department.
[b]~~AT PEACE WITHIN~~
**STAND STRONG IN YOUR BELIEFS**[/b]
@Little_Stormy (6883)
• United States
6 Dec 08
WOW! I am reminded of my three HURRIED trips to the hospital in labor.. there is NO way my husband would have stopped for a policeman or anything! He was scared I was going to mess up the car seat! lol!
That cop is a jerk! and If someone asked me to prove my pregnancy (while I was in labor) I can't tell you what I would do.. or I will get banned! lol!
@Barb42 (4214)
• United States
6 Dec 08
I think officers need to be trained to have a little common sense! Anyone should be able to tell if a woman rushing to the hospital is really pregnant or not! What a stupid question! It's bad enough to be caught by a stopped train when you are only blocks from the hospital, let alone an officer of the law! That's what happened to me with my second child. Thank the Lord, it finally moved since my daughter was born 1 hour and 15 minutes after I got to the hospital. I can imagine the frustration these people had. I would have been sure to get the name of the officer and turn him in!
1 person likes this
@kkthom3 (279)
• United States
7 Dec 08
Training police officers to recognize when a woman is pregnant!!?!?! I think that would fall more under the lines of common sense and I don't think you can teach that. I would assume that most people, whether they are law enforcement officers or not, should have a basic understanding of what pregancy and labor are.
Although, I also think that people shouldn't get into a panic when they are going into labor. I haven't done it personally, but I have heard that it is slow and usually takes hours before the baby is born. Therefore they shouldn't speed and break the law if they know that it will still be some time before the baby comes. And if it is a real emergency, like the baby is already halfway out, then they should call an ambulance, because they have sirens and knowledgeable paramedics who could help.
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
7 Dec 08
I wasn't saying officers should be trained to recognize when a woman is pregnant. As you said that is common sense. I was saying officers should be trained on how to accommodate and assist a pregnant woman on her way to the hospital.
As for the time it takes to have a baby, that varies considerably. My sister has had five children and I've had numerous friend who have had children. My best friends wife literally took 2 days to have her baby and it was already a week late. My sister has taken different amounts of time ranging from 30 minutes to 8 hours in labor with her kids. The fact is that you never really know how long it's going to take and when a police officer makes a woman wait while he writes a ticket, seriously bad things can happen. I've sat for up to 20 minutes waiting for a state trooper to give me a ticket and according to the story they were waiting for a person he was ticketing before them as well.
Typically yes, an ambulance is the best option, but not every city has an ample supply of ambulances to pick up pregnant women and people don't always think rationally in stressful situations. Most people wrongly believe they can get their wives to the hospital faster than an ambulance. The fact is that the police need to be properly trained to deal with these situations because they do happen.
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
7 Dec 08
thats beyond ridiculous!! but it makes you wonder if a lot of people committing crimes are posing as pregnant women or something lol.. but still he should give her the benefit of the doubt and assume they are telling the truth when it comes to something like this!!
@ronacruz2007 (650)
• Philippines
7 Dec 08
It is so sad to hear those news , i know that the cops are just doing their jobs to maintain peace and order but they should be decisive enough to know who's telling the truth or just acting out. I mean , it very obvious if somebody is just acting out. To bad for the pregnant lady who has been victimized by this
@owelm0408 (1011)
• Philippines
7 Dec 08
Woooh..This police officer must be reported. Isn't it obvious if a woman is pregnant or not?This police really need some orientation.Is the woman did get to the hospital on time?What of anything untoward incident happens to the woman because of the delay?In my opinion, police officer must be community friendly also, not just sit there are give tickets..
@lilwonders456 (8214)
• United States
8 Dec 08
That cop is lucky. The last you want to do is mess with a woman in labor. I know I would have seriously hurt anyone who got between me and my epidoral.
Seriously though, I thought police were suppost to help people. This couple needed help. He should have given it. Heck...if traffic would have been that bad and he could not give them an escort then he should have at the least called an ambulance for them. I hope he gets into trouble.
@katrhina23 (1282)
• United States
7 Dec 08
They might already have previous experiences like this. So they just dont believe people saying they have to ush to the hospital.
It is alright to check, but I think what that trooper should have done was to accompany them to the hospital and retrieve the $100 ticket given to them.
These people are just very incompassionate..
@myskina (182)
• China
7 Dec 08
i think that woman pregnancy should be very clear in the middle stage or the later stage , expect in the earlier . but just look at the surface , how thet can find it out !?
and thet met the pregnant woman should go the hospital quickly , rather than do something useless ``
@starr4all (2863)
•
6 Dec 08
That's horrible! It made me start thinking about my last sons birth. My water broke at 1am and I wasn't sure. We left at 1:30 when the contractions got bad. We dropped our kids off at about 2am. The pain was getting so bad that my husband was seriously thinking about running a red light. We were sitting there at the light anxiously waiting. My husband is so concious about not speeding, and he wanted to get to the hospital.
@anniepa (27955)
• United States
6 Dec 08
I'd like to give him a "reprimand" and it would come in the form of a good swift kick you know where...lol! When I first heard this story I couldn't believe it but I guess nothing should surprise me anymore. What's sad is most cops are decent and caring people who are there to enforce the law and protect the people but it's the jerks like this one we hear about! Thank God that woman and her baby are OK because this story could have had a very bad ending!
Annie
@marcialoyd (1173)
• United States
7 Dec 08
Yeah I watched this on yahoo yesterday morning. The womans contractions were 3 minutes apart. I would think that is considered enough of an emergency to ignore the speed limit. The trooper should have escorted them to the hospital. Maybe if she had given birth in the back seat of her car the trooper would have believed she was pregnant then?
