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Pregnant Woman Arrested For Public Drunkenness Gives Birth In Santa Cruz Jail Lobby

SANTA CRUZ (CBS SF) – A pregnant woman arrested last weekend for public drunkenness gave birth in the lobby of the Santa Cruz County jail early Monday.

Sheriff's Sgt. Steve Carney told the Santa Cruz Sentinel that jail staff initially refused to book the 29-year-old Clearlake woman Sunday afternoon because she was pregnant and intoxicated. She was eventually booked after an evaluation at local hospital.

The woman was being released Monday after deputies determined she had sobered up enough to go home, according to the Sentinel.

As she was being escorted out of the jail lobby, she went into labor, according to the Sentinel. The jail's medical staff assisted in the delivery of a baby girl estimated to be two or three months premature, the report said.

Jail staffers had to resuscitate the newborn before paramedics arrived, Carney said.

"(The jail staff) did a good job," Carney told the Sentinel. "They probably saved this little baby's life … what if she (the mother) had walked away?"

The mother and baby were taken to the hospital for further observation and care, the report said.

Carney told the Sentinel he believed Child Protective Services would be notified due to the circumstances, and that the hospital would be "pretty responsive to these type of cases."

 

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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