US Woman In Labour Forced To Attend Zoom Court Hearing From Hospital Bed For Refusing C-Section

In a bizarre case from the US, a pregnant woman in active labour was forced to attend a virtual court hearing after she refused to have a C-section. Accessed by ProPublica, the footage of the Zoom hearing shows Cherise Doyley of Florida lying on a hospital bed when she was, without her consent, made to sit in front of a screen full of people that included a judge in a black robe, several lawyers, doctors and hospital staff.

The incident took place in September 2024 when Doyley arrived overnight at the University of Florida Health Hospital after going into labour. She was in her 12th hour of contractions when a nurse came in with a bedsheet and told her to cover up, while a supervisor followed with a tablet with the hearing underway.

"It's a real judge in there?" Doyley asked the nurse at the beginning of what would be a three-hour hearing.

Doyley, a professional birthing doula, had informed the hospital staff that she wanted to try for a natural birth. As a mother of three, Doyley argued that recovering from her past C-sections was difficult and left her with complications, including a haemorrhage.

However, the medical staff insisted on a C-section, expressing concerns about the risk of uterine rupture. Doyley said she understood the risk to be less than two per cent and told doctors that she wanted to try having a vaginal delivery before consenting to a C-section.

Also Read | '6 Weeks, 7 Interviews And A No': Cancer Survivor's Brutal Job Hunt Post Viral

'Craziest Thing'

Hours later, while Doyley was still in labour, the court hearing started, which she described as "the craziest thing" she had ever seen. Judge Michael Kalil informed Doyley that the state had filed an emergency petition at the hospital's request to grant an emergency C-section for the welfare of the unborn child.

At one point, Doyley asked for a transfer to another hospital as she did not want anyone involved in the hearing to operate on her. After the hospital staffers refused, Doyley agreed to stay but asked if a Black nurse or doctor could be assigned to care for her.

"They're going to tie me up and go give me a C-section against my will?" said Doyley during the hearing.

After much back and forth, the judge did not order an immediate C-section. However, he said the hospital could perform the surgery without her consent if an emergency arises. Overnight, the baby's heart rate dropped, as per the doctors, and they rushed Doyley into surgery, where she gave birth via C-section.

The next morning, Doyley was put in front of the court for a final hearing, where she revealed that she still had not been taken to the neonatal intensive care unit to see her daughter. Over a year after the incident, Doyley has been unable to shake the feeling of violation. She said what the court and the hospital did was akin to 'torture'.