Georgia doctor accused of decapitating baby during delivery

A new lawsuit filed by a Georgia couple alleges their doctor used too much force and decapitated the woman’s baby during delivery — and then the hospital tried to cover it up.

Jessica Ross raced to Regional Medical Center in Riverdale when her water broke the morning of July 9. By the day’s end, 20-year-old Ross was fully dilated and instructed to push by medical staff, but the birthing process was suddenly stalled “due to shoulder dystocia,” a condition when a baby’s shoulders become stuck in the vaginal canal, according to the suit.

Her doctor, Tracey St. Julian, “attempted to deliver the baby vaginally using different methods including applying traction to the baby’s head,” but to no avail. After hours of effort, St. Julian took Ross for a C-section, but by then, a fetal monitor had stopped registering a heartbeat, according to the suit.

“In the process of trying to deliver this baby, she pulled on the head and neck so hard, and manipulated them so hard, that the bones in the baby’s skull, face and neck were broken,” Roderick Edmond, one of Ross’ attorneys said during a news conference. He added that the C-section removed the baby’s legs and body, while the head was delivered vaginally.

When Ross and her boyfriend, Treveon Isaiah Taylor Sr., asked to see the child, hospital staff “wrapped the baby up tightly, they propped the baby’s head on top of the blanket to make it appear like the head was attached when it wasn’t.” Edmonton said it was a blatant effort to cover up what occurred, noting that staff also discouraged the couple from getting an autopsy and instead urged them to have the baby immediately cremated.

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“They were so excited about the birth of their first child,” said Cory Lynch, another attorney representing the pair. “Unfortunately, their dreams and hopes turned into a nightmare that was covered up by Southern Regional Medical Center.”

The lawsuit, which takes aim at Southern Regional and St. Julian, alleges gross negligence, fraud and intentional infliction of emotional distress. It seeks unspecified punitive damages.

Southern Regional said in a statements it could not discuss treatment for particular patients, citing privacy laws, but denied the allegations raised against it.

With News Wire Services