Issue Briefs/June 1, 2025

Texas couple sues DFPS after baby was taken over home jaundice treatment.

A couple whose baby was taken away by the state after they chose to have their midwife treat the child for jaundice instead of taking it to a hospital ,filed a lawsuit against the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

Rodney and Temecia Jackson claim that the agency’s parental designation after their investigation was concluded is causing issues. “When our daughter was just seven days old, she was taken from out home under an invalid court order”. The baby was abruptly taken from them, according to the couple, who were left fearing for her well-being.

In March of 2023, Temecia Jackson gave birth to her third child with the help of a licensed midwife. A few days after delivery, the parents took the baby to their family pediatrician. At this visit, the baby was diagnosed with jaundice. At this time, the Jackson’s chose to treat the baby at home with guidance from their midwife instead of going to the hospital.

The pediatrician called Child Protective Services claiming neglect. Subsequent to this reporting, the baby was taken from the Jacksons. She was placed in a foster family for 24 days, after which she was returned to her parents. Following the baby’s removal, DFPS placed the Jacksons in its Central Registry with “a reason to believe” finding for medical neglect. This designation was put into place without a hearing, denying the parents a chance to contest the allegations before officially being labeled. The Central Registry is a database accessible to various institutions and inclusion carries significant weight, impacting individuals ability to work or volunteer in fields involving children or vulnerable populations.

The lawsuit filed by the couple claims that they were put into the DFPS registry and assigned as “reason to believe”, a designation that the Jackson’s fought, and it was changed to “unable to determine”. However downgraded, the less serious designation “casts a long shadow”. According to DFPS rules, even this status allows schools, employers, and medical providers to access the Jackson’s case records.

Court documents indicate that the current DFPS designation cannot be changed to a favorable designation of “ruled out” or removal from the registry. Mrs. Jackson states that she is constantly worried that if the smallest thing happens to her child, such as falling or cutting her knee, that DFPS will once again swoop in and take the child away, again. Mrs. Jackson also worries about turning to healthcare providers or the police if her family ever needs help, as providers and first responders are able to access the registry which still indicates that they medically neglected their child.

By Steven Ardary FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth – April 22, 2025

ACLU Press Release: Midwives and Doctors File Lawsuit Challenging Alabama’s De Facto Ban on Birth Centers – May 24, 2025

A group of Midwives and Doctors in Montgomery, Alabama have filed a lawsuit in state court challenging actions by the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH), which has imposed a bans on freestanding birth centers throughout Alabama, preventing them from providing much-needed pregnancy care to their patients.1

The lawsuit comes after ADPH created “significant uncertainty” around the legal status of birth centers that provide midwife-led care, asseting that allsuch birth centers require a “hospital license”, despite the fact that they only provide midwifery care to low risk patients using a model of care that is safely provided in out-of-hospital setting throughout the country. While requiring the license, ADPH has unlawfully made it impossible to even acquire one.2

Constitutional claims addressed in the lawsuit:

- ADHP lacks authority to require birth centers to acquire a hospital license because midwife-led birth centers are not “hospitals” under Alabama law.

- Even if ADHP has licensing authority, it does not have authority to ban birth centers altogether. And by failing to provide a path to licensure, the Department is imposing a de facto birth center ban throughout Alabama.3

This de facto ban comes at a critical time for pregnant women in Alabama, or those seeking to become pregnant, as the state has the third highest maternal mortality in the nation, with Black women comprising a disproportionate share of maternal deaths. Alabama also has the sixth largest infant mortality with Black infants making up the largest proportions of these deaths. More than two thirds of counties in Alabama have little or no access to maternity care. In order to mitigate this disparity, midwives and providers are working to open birth centers to provide safe environments for low-risk patients, especially for those needing prenatal and birthing services. In these health care deserts, may individuals have decided that giving birth at home and in the hospital is not the right place for them to deliver.

The lawsuit: Oasis Family Birthing Center et. al. v. Alabama Department of Public Health

1. ACLU Press Release; ACLU Affiliate, 125 Broad Street, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10004 p. 1

2. Ibid pg. 2

3. Ibid pg. 3

State Investigating Dallas Birth Center and Midwives, Following Multiple Complaints From Patients

Knowing that I was in care in a clinic that hasn’t been inspected by the city . . .that’s scary. That’s not safe”said Amanda Callicutt.

When Amanda Callicut was deciding how she wanted her pregnancy journey to go, certain words came to her mind: “No medications. No interventions. I wanted to have a natural birth in a beautiful space . . .my own experience that was calm, without bright lights and the doctors and the Therscrubs.” Her research led her to choose Origins Birth & Wellness Center in Dallas, TX. Despite giving birth to a healthy baby boy, Callicut indicates that multiple things stood out to her during her experience at Origins Dallas. She has decided that she did not receive proper care during her delivery until she had to be transferred to the hospital – the one place she wanted to avoid. “I was in labor for 60 hours”, she claims. “It was long and excruciating and exhausting . . . that’s not right. That’s not normal. There were no complications leading up to that.”

Callicut said she began connecting with other women who had been in her birthing class at Origins and learned she was not alone in deciding that she had not received proper care. “There were more moms. There just kept being more. What a sick feeling.”

The basic complaints of “all the mothers” were bad experiences with midwives who they say “lacked experience, delays, and a lack of clarity in getting transferred to the hospital when needed. Multiple women feared for the lives of their babies and themselves.”

Some women filed complaints with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation that confirm the department opened an investigation into complaints against the birth center as well as two midwives that worked there. TDLR is the agency that licenses midwives in Texas. Other complaints were directed to the City of Dallas over concerns that the clinic appointments conducted in an office adjacent to the birth center lacked a certificate of occupancy from the City. The department of Code Compliance ultimately issued a ciolation for the location after finding that it was operating without a COA. So far these are the only formal violations related to Origins Dallas.

The co-owners of Origins Dallas, both midwives licensed by the State of Texas, have indicated that they have been in contact with the state and do not expect to receive any citations. They are heartbroken about the claims made against their clinic and emphasized the number of pregnancies they have served without issue. They said they are currently in the process of getting a certificate of occupancy for their clinic

Callicut said those experiences don’t change what happened to her and the other women who are speaking out. “It doesn’t matter how many women bad things happen to. Bad things should not happen to any woman. Every woman should feel safe giving birth whether it’s at the hospital, a birthing center . . . at home. . .it doesn’t matter.”

By Morgan Young (WFAA)

https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/investigates/state-investigating-dallas-birth-center-midwives-following-multiple-complaints-from-patients/287-e

Family plans lawsuit against Mesa birthing center after tragic loss of their unborn baby – Lauren Clark – FOX 10 Phoen

A local family is devastated at the loss of their child after 42 weeks of pregnancy. Now their attorney is planning to file a lawsuit against the Mesa birthing center they hired. Apparently, no criminal charges have been filed and no lawsuit has yet been filed. However, an attorney representing the family says that he plans to file, soon, emphasizing that those who were responsible need to be held accountable.

Noelle and Dylan Amrzel say they were excited to welcome baby boy James into the world in November 2023. The couple chose Willow Birthing Center in Mesa. “I enjoyed the idea of a business, or health care run by women that’s exclusively serving women, said Noelle. She went into labor at 42 weeks gestation. The couple say that the delivery was not easy and that Noelle was in a lot of pain. “We were like, ‘so, should we just go to the hospital and get something to mitigate the pain?’ and the midwife was very dismissive of it saying, ‘no, this is normal, everything is fine.’”

As the hours went by the couple realized that everything was not fine. Noelle was eventually rushed to the hospital. After a 36-plus hour labor and an attempted delivery at Willow, baby James died at Banner Desert. “This is a tremendous tragedy and it’s not something that’s completely preventable”, said John Kelly of the Kelly Law Team. Preventable, says Kelly, because of how far along Noelle was in her pregnancy.

“These midwives know very much that at 42 weeks of pregnancy, it’s too long, they have to transfer them to the hospital at that point”, he said. This is a stance that Willow is refuting. They claim that the cutoff week to deliver a baby at a birth center is 42 completed weeks. Willow notes that it hosds accreditation from “the nation’s highest standard in birth center safety (AABC) and is “run by two certified nurse-midwives with doctorates in their field”.

Mesa Police paperwork listing names that match those listed in the wrongful death complaint describes a call for a child not breathing. The officer wrote that upon arrival at the hospital, a nurse made a comment about how Willow was known by the NICU staff, noting that throughout the year, about 5 to 6 neonatal patients would arrive from Willow in critical condition. The officer also wrote that a physician said in 2022 they had received about eight newborn patients and that two or three died.

Willow reported to FOX 10 that it had a transfer rate of 13%, below the national average of 15.8%, and that Willow’s NICU admission was less than 1%. A previous lawsuit was settled weeks ago but Kelly says that he will file another, stating that all information has not been received but, so far, there is clear negligence, it should never have happened, and the baby should have been transferred, sooner.

https://midwivesontrial.com

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