The Tarrant County Sheriff's Office said in a statement late Saturday night that "no violations were discovered" in the investigation of an inmate giving birth in the Tarrant County jail last month.
The baby was found by a corrections officer and a nurse on May 17, and officials took the mother of the child and the baby to a hospital. The baby is now in Child Protective Services custody. The sheriff's office did not give an update on the mother, who was originally booked into the jail in January and held without bond on an assault/bodily injury to a family member and injury to a child/elder/disabled person charge.
The jail classified the woman as "intellectually delayed" upon intake and was referred to the jail's mental health services, according to the sheriff's office. She was prescribed prenatal vitamins and placed on a pregnancy diet and was given a second mattress and blanket. She was placed in protective custody in the infirmary and was seen by an OB-GYN once in February and March and twice in April and May, according to the statement from the sheriff's office.
The OB-GYN planned to induce labor when the woman was between 39-40 weeks pregnant, since she "was unable to express her symptoms and may not recognize if she were to go into labor," according to the statement.
The woman was observed every 30 minutes or less up until the discovery of the baby on May 17, the statement said. The baby was discovered after a corrections officer and a nurse went to check on the woman and did not get a verbal response. They removed her blanket and found the baby under a blanket, according to the statement. The mother and child were immediately taken to a hospital.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the inmate and her family regarding all the publicity surrounding this incident," a statement from the sheriff's office said.
