Law enforcement officials said it is rare to see a midwife charged with a crime in connection with a failed delivery, but a combination of factors led prosecutors to pursue the case. They said Carr was unlicensed in Virginia, agreed to perform a high-risk breech delivery in a woman’s home after other care providers refused, and ignored warning signs that the delivery was not going well.
Ultimately, prosecutors said, Carr allowed the baby to remain with his head stuck in the birth canal for 20 minutes and then, after delivery, tried to resuscitate him for 13 minutes before calling for emergency medical help. The boy never gained consciousness or displayed brain activity, and he died two days later at Children’s National Medical Center in the District when life support was removed.
“When you add everything together, it was criminally negligent,” said Krista Boucher, chief deputy commonwealth’s attorney in Alexandria. “The baby never had a chance.”
The case has elicited strong emotions and intense debate, much of it continuing online, about childbirth options in the region. While a vast majority of women give birth in hospitals, many use midwives to assist them. A relatively small number of women choose to give birth at home.
Carr, who is a certified professional midwife but who state records indicate is not licensed in Virginia, is an advocate of home births and has worked with hundreds of women in the Washington region, many of whom offer high praise for her work and care. And she has held herself out as being especially adept at high-risk deliveries: When she met the boy’s mother — who was 43, in her first pregnancy and had a child in breech position — Carr told her that she had done 40 to 50 breech births in homes without problems, according to court records.
Fifty to 75 people — including numerous babies — joined Carr in Alexandria Circuit Court on Thursday, standing when she walked into the courtroom in what supporter Nicole Jolley said was a show of respect. Jolley said Carr has “amazing skill.”
After Carr was arrested, Jolley, a certified professional midwife, founded In Service to Women, a group focused on providing legal aid to midwives and uniting home-birth advocates. She said the group has raised $45,000 in less than two months, and hundreds of people joined the group on Facebook to offer testimonials about Carr’s contributions to the community.
“The outpouring of support has been amazing,” Jolley said. “Her services are coveted.”
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