Woman says Pa. hospital refused to transfer baby
Dec 10, 2012, 11:10 PM
Associated Press
(AP) – A woman charged with removing her baby daughter from a Pennsylvania hospital against doctor’s orders says she was just trying to do right by the baby, who needed special treatment for a heart defect.
April Saul says Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown refused her request to transfer her 3-month-old daughter to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia even though it didn’t have the specialist she required.
Police filed charges against Saul and her fiance last week for removing their baby without permission in October.
Saul said Monday she felt she had no other choice.
Lehigh Valley Hospital says the baby was “medically unstable.” A prosecutor says Children’s Hospital wasn’t ready to take the baby and the parents acted unreasonably.
The baby eventually was transferred and is scheduled for heart surgery this week.
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