Octuplet mom fears hospital may not release babies

I'm glad to see the hospital is doing what they are suppose to do to ensure these babies have a home to go to and people staffed to care for them. God knows when my 6 yo was born and she wouldn't take a bottle nor nurse I wish I had someone at home to help feed her every 2 hours around the clock for the 1st 3 months of her life. Me and hubby took shifts doing this. You talk about being worn out to the bone. We had 3 other children and having to care for a preemie around the clock 24 hours a day was draining. I can't imagine having 14 kids with 8 being preemies and 10 being under 2 with 3 of those being special needs. I hope the hospital can get her some help to care for the babies and they also assign her a case work that will follow up on visit to make sure all are being taken care of. god knows shes going to need it.

BTW, Why did she call Dr.Phil what could he possibly do for her ?? this is a LAW not something personal towards her.

This is an extremely slippery slope. What is next? Sending perceived unfit citizens to concentration camps? This is not Kaiser’s or the government’s decision, unless you live in a communist nation.

They can report, but they cannot retain the babies without obtaining a court order for guardianship. The likelihood of a court granting guardianship to a hospital/institution is next to nil.

Read the California Penal Code when it comes to mandatory reporters:
"has knowledge of or observes a child whom the mandated
reporter knows or reasonably suspects has been the victim of child
abuse or neglect."
You must KNOW or REASONABLY SUSPECT that abuse or neglect has taken place.

This is the law.

A “better safe than sorry” approach is damaging to a family where there is no abuse or neglect.

To further, who is going to pay for the care for these babies while there is an investigation through CPS to decide if she is fit to have the children released to her? Your tax money?

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The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.
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I am so sick and tired of hearing about this woman!

While I'm not one of the people that believe the state should come in and take these kids without adequate cause, (which they don't have yet) It's not unreasonable for the hospital to not release these preemies before they know that there's a support system at home to care for them.

Hell, I couldn't even take my 52 yr old mother home after surgery unless we had someone to take care of her for the first 72 hours.

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1) This type of law has been in place for AT LEAST 11 years. We had to show that we had adequate housing and "material" things (like car seat, crib/bassinet, etc) prior to being released w/ our first child, who will be 11 soon!

2)Who is going to pay for the care of these babies when or if they are released to go home? Who is going to pay for the care of these babies should they have any number of physical or developmental issues associated w/ preemie? "my" tax dollars I'm assuming, since apparently this woman has no job, no income and no private health insurance...

Anyone with half an ounce of common sense should be able to listen to this woman and see that she's not psychologically "right". I don't want to punish the children involved, but I do want to see that they have a safe enviroment to grow in, and that they receive the appropriate care and treatment (from a medical standpoint) that they may need. If this female can prove that, then hey, I'm all for her raising the children.

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Actually, it's not the hospital's job or place to determine who's fit to care for their children properly. The hospital is a medical facility that's paid to provide medical care. In this case, the hospital was paid exceptionally well. I read that the hospital plans to submit a bill of approximately 1.4 million dollars for the care of the mother and the children, an absolutely ridiculous figure. The bill is still climbing by thousands and thousands of dollars every day, too.

I don't like this woman and I think deliberately producing 14 children that she has no intention of supporting is disgusting but the hospital is greatly overstepping their bounds. It's not their business what happens to their patients when they return home or whether they receive proper care once they leave them. They were paid for their services and if they have concerns about a patient's home life, they need to contact a state agency and let them handle it.

It's a terrible precedent to allow a hospital to have the power to determine whether a home is up to their standards. The hospital has no authority to kidnap this woman's children. It's ironic that this hospital will want to bill the taxpayers millions of dollars for the captivity. I think it's a self serving financial move and shouldn't be allowed. The hospital is a business, not a social agency and they shouldn't be allowed to blur the line, especially when their decision means they reap such massive financial rewards.

While I agree that this woman is unbalanced and can't care properly for the children, a hospital shouldn't have the authority to decide this. We have a court system in place to decide whether a parent and their home is unfit to provide care for children and no hospital should be allowed to take it upon themselves to play judge.

I actually agree with their 'verdict' but I don't think a hospital should have the right to issue one, especially since their finding will net them millons of dollars. The hospital should call Social Services and let them handle it.

While I don't argue that it may be self-serving on the part of the hospital....Some Hospitals are a social agency. They provide social workers and counseling.

Does she have 8 infant car seats? Does she have at least one vehicle that can transport the children (even if it has to be done in two trips)? Does she have bedding arrangements for all 14 children? (CPS frowns on children sleeping on the floor...) Does she have car seats for the other children that need them?
Does she plan to breast feed all 8? Does she plan to bottlefeed? If so, does she have sufficient supplies and access to hot water (to sterilize feeding supplies)? These are not new questions people! These questions have been asked for (from my experience) at least 11 years! Even when the parent or parents present as normal, every day folks!

I don't know about California, but other states will not allow a child to be released from the hospital if the parent/guardian doesn't have a child safety seat in the vehicle for the child.

I'm of the opinion that we, the taxpayers, are going to be footing the bill for these babies whether they are released to this not so stable woman, or whether they are in the hospital. I'd much rather pay for the hospital in this case...

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

marilyn, did you really have to prove you had a crib or bassinet? That seems extreme to me! IMHO, it's not the role of the state to 'pre-certify' parents to care for their own offspring. If they are caught breaking a law, certainly the state has the legal responsibility to step in... but if my 'plan' is to solely use the stroller to get around and have the baby co-sleep, that's my right.

I should be clear that:

1) I didn't use a stroller as our sole means of baby transportation
2) I didn't co-sleep as a way of life, only as a means of convenience now and then when it was the only way we could get any sleep
3) It's been over a decade since we had a baby and there are no plans for more!

I'm just saying that I don't think parents should have to *prove* they are fit in order for the hospital to *let* them have their own babies. Who gets to be the boss of people who do homebirths using midwives?

That said, I think the key with this situation is that she is apparently going to be using government assistance to get by, and I think when you request that assistance then you avail yourself to their oversight as a means to prove level of need. Otherwise, anyone could claim they "need" it. I have to think that during the course of 'oversight' that she will slip up, and at that point, intervention can happen.

People are often so quick to say "Put them in the foster system!" as though that is the cure. Ummm.... no. Rarely. I have an adopted little cousin who was removed from his mother's care when he was preschool-aged. There were, IIRC, five of them, ages 1 - 7, and they were split up and put into foster homes. I know two sets of the parents who 'got' two of them and eventually adopted them. They have had more problems than I can begin to explain, part of it from the early care they *didn't* receive, and part of it because they just never felt whole. They really yearned for each other. They would see each other at school and always felt like they wanted to be with their 'real family'. The behavior problems... I can't even begin to describe them. Incarceration in grade school, threats to do physical harm to those close to them, vandalism... it's been bad.

The familes that took them in are good, good, loving families who have successfully raised other kids (both adopted and bio) into adulthood, but those siblings who were separated after having spent some amount of time being raised together were never the same after having been split up.

That's not to say that it's always that way, but just placing them with foster families isn't a long-term fix that will necessarily result in happy, healthy adults one day. Chances are they will be bounced from home to home, have minimal-but-sketchy contact with each other, and the lack of permanent bonds will take its toll. Having them go somewhere as a unit would be better, IMHO ... but what kind of family is equipped to take on all 14 of them?

I should have said that I had to prove that the child would not be sleeping on the floor--be it co-sleep, crib, bassinet, etc.

But, I did have to prove I had a carseat before they would release the baby, and that included the last time the nurse inspecting that the carseat was properly secured.

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

Huh? Why would you have to prove anything to a hospital? I've never heard of any law that requires a parent to prove that they have adequate housing and material things before the baby is released. I wasn't required to prove anything, nor was anyone I know. None of my family members or any of my friends were even questioned, much less required to show proof. It's not standard to have to prove these things. Were you under investigation for child abuse or neglect or a wefare recipient?

Same here. When we went home the nurse walked us to the car and made sure the carseat was properly installed. They did this with both my sons, two different hospitals.

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bet she doesnt have anything and it's not like babies pop out overnight, nine months to get stuff and stock up and bet she doesnt have a diaper for a one that wasnt handed to her.

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Ummm...NOPE! Wasn't under any sort of investigation, nor was I a welfare recipient. This was our first born, I had yet to delve into child abuse/neglect and scamming public assistance!

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

This one's a business. As of last week, their bill for this selfish woman and her innocent offspring exceeded 1.4 million. The clock is still ticking and the hospital is still counting. I agree that this woman is unstable and shouldn't be allowed to care for children she can't provide for but I don't think that the business that is profitting from their decision should have the right to decide which parents are fit to take home their children.

We all have problems. She created this mess for herself and now what? I get really upset with the Welfare system so I am not even going to start........

I heard this morning that she has been offered a show. She has also received book offers.

She shouldn't need welfare.

If you haven't seen these videos with mother and grandmother, they're rather eye opening.
Fresh Intelligence : Radar Online : Octo-Mom Erupts! Video Showdown With Her Mom Over Babies

Fresh Intelligence : Radar Online : Octo-Mom Lied About Pregnancy: "I Have A Tumor" : Video Showdown With Her Mom - Part 2

More to come....

I didn't take this as they are trying to take her babies away. Maybe I missed that . I took it as she will have to have help no matter what. In all this "reporting" I have read on her I have YET to hear anyone say she has a team waiting for these babies when they come home. I'm sorry she can't can't do this on her own no 1 person could it's impossible and really silly for anyone to believe she could. She has 10 children under the age of 2. 8 of those need to be bottle fed not all of those babies will wake and eat at the same time. She will have to divide her day up between 14 children so if its broken down into a NORMAL 16 hour day that leaves 1hour 14 mins PER child.. no way anyone can do this.

If the hospital turned their head to this and allowed her to take those babies home knowing she didn't have any plans or anyway to care for these children. should one of them die ( god forbid) or a million other things that can happen when you are dealing with a preemie then people would be yelling sue sue the hospital they should have known.They knew she didn't have a plan NOR any kind of help and yet they allowed those innocent babies to leave with her now look whats happen. I don't blame the hospital for covering their ass. They might not get paid now for the care they have provided they sure as heck dont want to be sued also.

I am too!!
This is why I am not here!!

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Where are you?

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Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box.

Yikes! Did they make you provide a photo of the crib, or a receipt? How does one prove that?

She is in a different situation where these are all "high needs" babies. My 31 weeker, the nurses wrote down all kinds of things about me and my dh, whether we were helping with feeds, changing diapers, asking appropriate questions (as opposed to inappropriate???), ect, and it's up to the hospital on the release date. You can't go to the hospital and have a baby and then expect to walk out 2 hours later with the baby... The hospital has say over when your baby leaves, and that's what I think is going on here... They won't discharge the baby until they know it's going to a safe environment, where it will be taken care of. That's at least how our NICU was, and this was with my 4th child.

I took this to mean that the hospital would not let the babies go home UNTIL the mother had things in place to provide adequate care. I think this is fairly common practice. There should be a social worker involved and it would be within the scope of the social worker's job to evaluate the home situation before the babies are released from the hospital.

When both my boys were born in two different hospitals in two different states, I had to prove that I had a functional car seat that was properly installed before I was allowed to take the baby home.

Mine are 12 & 15 (in 2 1/2 weeks) and we did not have to prove the crib, but they did make us bring the car seat to the hospital room, made sure she was buckled in correctly (1st was not the 1st time!) and walked us to the car to be sure the seat was secured correctly. 2 different hospitals in 2 different states.

Lisa

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It's wanting what you've got"

I think it makes perfect sense for the hospital to ensure that the babies are being released into a safe and proper environment.

cj/

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