Q: I have a dcs case in arizona and it's super complicated...
I gave birth at home. It was planned, my second all natural birth. She came at 37 weeks just like my previous daughter. She was pink she cried she nursed she pooped. We went to sleep when I awoke she was not breathing. Called 911. Was told at hospital she had died. Then I was held in the room where her lifeless body lay for hours, told I could not touch or hold her. My husband and 2 yr old were kept from me at this time. I asked if I was being detained they said no standard protocol, I asked for a lawyer, not once but 4 times over the course of the night, including to the investigators. I was never offered medical care. After several hours of them holding my husband for questioning they informed me I could go as could my hubby but 2 yr old remained as dcs was taking her. They claimed it was drug dependancy, medical report will show it was preeclampsia. Baby in foster care, they wont give her to family, medical report could take months...I'm still sick with preeclampsia, I need help.
A:
First, I cannot imagine what you are going through. I wish you the strength to weather this storm, the patience to deal with the government bureaucracies, and the resiliency of spirit to bounce back from this ordeal when you reach the other side.
Unfortunately, unless you can afford an attorney or find a pro bono attorney to assist you, you are likely in for a long wait.
It is unlikely that most attorneys will have a clue what you are talking about when you use terms like pre-eclampsia. This attorney, however, is familiar and would caution you from making statements which sound like you know more than you may actually know. It is not going to gain you any points with the Court or other individuals who may have some power to make your life easier or more difficult. Babies do not die due to pre-eclampsia once safely outside the womb. I do not dispute that you may still be sick with pre-eclampsia, but I would guess you lost your newborn to SIDS; I do not see how your pre-eclampsia had anything to do with it.
Hang in there. When the bloodwork comes back clean, DCS should close the case and return your child. As overworked as they are, they should be excited to close a case and return a child to their family.
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