Unlicensed Nebraska midwife charged after baby dies following home birth
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}An unlicensed Nebraska midwife was arrested Wednesday after a baby died following an unsuccessful delivery at home.
Angela Hock, 36, of Riverdale, was charged with negligent child abuse resulting in death after the baby died at an Omaha home on June 15, according to the Omaha World-Herald.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Paramedics were called to the home at around 9:25 p.m. and they found Hock attempted to help Emily Noe, 25, deliver a breech baby in the home, the newspaper reported, citing a Douglas County affidavit. Noe was on her hands and knees as another woman held the partially undelivered baby.
The baby was eventually delivered by emergency personnel but wasn’t breathing and didn’t have a pulse, according to the World-Herald. The baby was taken to a neonatal intensive care unit at the hospital and placed on life support. Dr. Katherine Lessman, an OB-GYN who was on call at the hospital, said Noe told her she had been pushing for an hour before paramedics were called.
The baby was pronounced dead June 17.
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Noe told authorities her water broke at around 9 p.m. June 14 and Hock, who runs Nebraska Birth Keeper, arrived at 6 a.m. the next day, according to the affidavit. Hock asked whether Noe wanted to continue the delivery at home and told her she had training in delivering breech babies, the paper reported. Hock then called authorities after another half-hour.
Lessman told authorities she believed the birth was handled negligently.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“[Hock] placed the child in a situation that endangered her life … and deprived (her) of necessary medical care,” Deputy Douglas County Attorney Molly Keane said. “Her actions in doing so resulted in the death of this child.”
Investigators believe Noe and her husband, Crayton, paid Hock between $3,000 and $4,000 to handle midwife services, according to the World-Herald.
Chief Deputy County Attorney Brenda Beadle said this is the first time in her career she’s seen an unlicensed person being charged in connection with the death of a baby during a home birth.
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Hock was booked into the Douglas County Jail and is awaiting her first court appearance.