OH - Newborn found still connected to unconscious mother on Ohio hotel lawn; parents face charges

[Knox]

WESTLAKE, Ohio (WJW) – A good Samaritan helped save a newborn infant after finding the child’s mother unconscious with the baby still attached by the umbilical cord.

<modsnip - snipped for copyright - see >

https://www.wate.com/news/newborn-found-still-connected-to-unconscious-mother-on-ohio-hotel-lawn-parents-face-charges/

 

[Knox]

Thank God this woman stopped to lend aid. I sincerely wish we could sterilize some people, in addition to be born to these two idiots, the baby is drug addicted I'm sure. Heartbreaking!!

 

[starlightstarbright]

If the baby was still ‘attached’ as the witness claims, it means the placenta hadn’t been birthed yet. The mother was likely losing quite a bit of blood. Usually the placenta will detach and be birthed within 20 minutes or so, if it doesn’t, it’s a medical emergency and the woman can bleed out. The mom in this situation likely wouldn’t have been able to think straight. It’s a miracle she made it outside and actually that probably saved her life since her partner didn’t seem intent on doing it.

That said, actually the person who found them cutting the cord was also incredibly dangerous. It could have killed them both. I know people see this on tv and think that’s what you do when a baby is born, but it’s really dangerous to do when not clamped (for mom and baby due to bleeding) and with unsterile equipment. They were still very lucky this person found them when they did.

Hopefully they get the help and support they need.

 

[borndem]

Hoping the newborn is "clean" and okay. Certainly the newborn will be checked by the proper authorities for possible drugs in his or her system and treat whatever may be a problem.
I assume the baby will be handed over to county authorities. The baby has had a tough beginning. Hoping that the little one will be okay in a few days, and that the "parents" will be in the hands of the authorities if appropriate.
Big kudos to the good Samaritan who happened by to help.
God certainly works in wonderful ways.

 

[CrimeDawg123]

If the baby was still ‘attached’ as the witness claims, it means the placenta hadn’t been birthed yet. The mother was likely losing quite a bit of blood. Usually the placenta will detach and be birthed within 20 minutes or so, if it doesn’t, it’s a medical emergency and the woman can bleed out. The mom in this situation likely wouldn’t have been able to think straight. It’s a miracle she made it outside and actually that probably saved her life since her partner didn’t seem intent on doing it.

That said, actually the person who found them cutting the cord was also incredibly dangerous. It could have killed them both. I know people see this on tv and think that’s what you do when a baby is born, but it’s really dangerous to do when not clamped (for mom and baby due to bleeding) and with unsterile equipment. They were still very lucky this person found them when they did.

Hopefully they get the help and support they need.

Exactly.
"Since the mother would not respond, the witness used scissors from her purse to cut the umbilical cord"

Used scissors ... from ... her ... purse ...

 

[Knox]

If the baby was still ‘attached’ as the witness claims, it means the placenta hadn’t been birthed yet. The mother was likely losing quite a bit of blood. Usually the placenta will detach and be birthed within 20 minutes or so, if it doesn’t, it’s a medical emergency and the woman can bleed out. The mom in this situation likely wouldn’t have been able to think straight. It’s a miracle she made it outside and actually that probably saved her life since her partner didn’t seem intent on doing it.

That said, actually the person who found them cutting the cord was also incredibly dangerous. It could have killed them both. I know people see this on tv and think that’s what you do when a baby is born, but it’s really dangerous to do when not clamped (for mom and baby due to bleeding) and with unsterile equipment. They were still very lucky this person found them when they did.

Hopefully they get the help and support they need.

What's incredibly dangerous is to use drugs while pregnant, not to seek pre-natal care, nor to call 911 immediately when the birth begins. The passerby was concerned with saving the child, which evidently worked.

This child according to her Facebook post, is her fifth. One is older - the other three littles are in foster care. She shouldn't have any more chances to ruin a child's life.

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[teeby]

I assumed she tied it off before she cut it and the article just didn't specify. It doesn't have to be sterile. 911 had me tie an umbilical cord with a shoelace. The cord stump will get rubbed on all kinds of dirty stuff soon anyway.

 

[CrimeDawg123]

I assumed she tied it off before she cut it and the article just didn't specify. It doesn't have to be sterile. 911 had me tie an umbilical cord with a shoelace. The cord stump will get rubbed on all kinds of dirty stuff soon anyway.

Yes let's hope she knew to do that. I hope the article was just being vague.

 

[Goecke]

Maybe I'm in the minority here but I don't know if charging the mom was the right thing to do here. It sounds like she needs some serious help and treatment for her addiction, not criminal charges/jail time. I got the impression she went outside to seek help and passed out before she could find anyone. Childbirth is incredibly hard on the body even with appropriate medical care, so I'm not convinced her passing out was drug-related. There's really nothing in the story that indicates she intended to harm the baby.

ETA: If the story he's telling is true than the child endangerment charge is definitely appropriate for the dad. He could have easily called 911 or flagged someone down for help. There's nothing the mom did that seems malicious or negligent, aside from using drugs while pregnant, which doesn't count as child endangerment since a fetus isn't considered a child.

 

[LadyL]

WESTLAKE, Ohio (WJW) – A good Samaritan helped save a newborn infant after finding the child’s mother unconscious with the baby still attached by the umbilical cord.

Police and paramedics were called to the Westspring Inn in Westlake, Ohio, on Tuesday after the witness, who was walking her dogs, spotted a woman passed out in the grass outside the hotel. Initially, she was not sure what she was looking at.

On police body camera video, she told officers, “So I’m like, ‘What is that sticking up in the air?’ and the baby’s face was down in the grass and its butt was up like this and the baby was crying, and she was out like a light.”

“The mom was?” the officer asked.

“Yes, I was like, ‘ma’am, ma’am,’ screaming at her and she did not budge,” the witness responded.

Since the mother would not respond, the witness used scissors from her purse to cut the umbilical cord while waiting for help to arrive, according to police.

The good Samaritan told a 911 dispatcher that she made sure the baby was breathing OK and wrapped him in towels.

Police say the father of the infant, 35-year-old John Bratsch, told them that the mother, 42-year-old Chanel Mueller, gave birth to the baby in their hotel room, and while Bratsch was cleaning up the room, Mueller went outside with the baby still attached and passed out.

https://www.wate.com/news/newborn-found-still-connected-to-unconscious-mother-on-ohio-hotel-lawn-parents-face-charges/

'cleaning up the room'

who does that before calling 911?
I think that's code for 'getting rid of drugs'

 

[Gemmie]

Exactly.
"Since the mother would not respond, the witness used scissors from her purse to cut the umbilical cord"

Used scissors ... from ... her ... purse ...

Scissors in a purse doesn't surprise me. I have a pair of folding scissors that are always in my car but that's because I don't carry a purse. You never know when you'll need a pair and they can come in quite handy. Although I'd prefer my emergency to be cutting a thread off my clothes or some such thing... and not an umbilical cord...

My mother stopped carrying a purse when one day someone needed a wrench to fix a motorcycle and she just so happened to have one in her purse. She said that was it for her. lol

So you never know...

 

[clorenc]

This child according to her Facebook post, is her fifth. One is older - the other three littles are in foster care. She shouldn't have any more chances to ruin a child's life.

I haven’t seen mention of foster care, but it wouldn’t surprise me . . .

Photos on the “father’s” FB show some truly racist imagery . . . and recently.

“Mother’s” older children, apparently from a previous relationship, appear to possibly be biracial.

How would a mother reconcile those two things?

 

[airportwoman]

I haven’t seen mention of foster care, but it wouldn’t surprise me . . .

Photos on the “father’s” FB show some truly racist imagery . . . and recently.

“Mother’s” older children, apparently from a previous relationship, appear to possibly be biracial.

How would a mother reconcile those two things?

One of his close-up pictures looked to me like he's got "meth mouth", and as for those three little kids on her profile, I got the impression that they are grandchildren. Do remember that she's 42 years old.

 

[clorenc]

One of his close-up pictures looked to me like he's got "meth mouth"

Yes, plus burns on his lip (from a pipe?) and some kind of white substance in/below his nostril.

and as for those three little kids on her profile, I got the impression that they are grandchildren. Do remember that she's 42 years old.

They’re her kids, according to her comment on the photo from November 20, 2023.

 

[clorenc]

I got the impression that they are grandchildren. Do remember that she's 42 years old.

Your comment startled me though . . . I thought, She can’t be a grandmother — she’s only a few years older than me, and I’m just a baby.

Then I did the math . . . what a reality check. LOL

 

[clorenc]

Westlake police: Newborn baby found still attached to unconscious mother, who gave birth in hotel room

According to Westlake police, 'both the mom and self-proclaimed dad were charged with child endangering.'

www.wkyc.com

“Bratsch, who was in the hotel room, identified himself to police as the father of the baby using the name ‘Brian Johnson.’

“According to Westlake police, when they entered the social security number for ‘Johnson,’ officers found found that Bratsch had a felony parole violation warrant from the Ohio Parole Authority. He also had warrants from the Westlake Police Department for previous drug possession and traffic charges. Bratsch was arrested and taken to the Westlake Jail, while Mueller and baby were transported to a nearby hospital.”



Mueller appears to have an old black eye and abrasions/bruising around her neck in (what I assume is) her mugshot.

 

[clorenc]

The article linked above has a video showing Bratsch being arrested. (He looks pretty high to me.)

It seems the woman cut the umbilical cord after Mueller was “revived,” not while she was unconscious. Mueller apparently then smoked a cigarette. Whew!

(The woman with the purse scissors is referred to as a NICU “nurse” from a local hospital, which I thought could be a possibility . . . But the editor’s note in the article states that this is false.)

 

[Favored]

If the baby was still ‘attached’ as the witness claims, it means the placenta hadn’t been birthed yet. The mother was likely losing quite a bit of blood. Usually the placenta will detach and be birthed within 20 minutes or so, if it doesn’t, it’s a medical emergency and the woman can bleed out. The mom in this situation likely wouldn’t have been able to think straight. It’s a miracle she made it outside and actually that probably saved her life since her partner didn’t seem intent on doing it.

That said, actually the person who found them cutting the cord was also incredibly dangerous. It could have killed them both. I know people see this on tv and think that’s what you do when a baby is born, but it’s really dangerous to do when not clamped (for mom and baby due to bleeding) and with unsterile equipment. They were still very lucky this person found them when they did.

Hopefully they get the help and support they need.

That is great information. I did not even think about clamping the cord. It sounds like she did what she had to do with what gadgets that she had on her. What a blessing that it worked out the way that it all worked out. I will remember the information about the clamp for the remainder of my life. If I ever am in this situation, I am educated on what to do until paramedics arrive.

 

[BrownRice]

If the baby was still ‘attached’ as the witness claims, it means the placenta hadn’t been birthed yet. The mother was likely losing quite a bit of blood. Usually the placenta will detach and be birthed within 20 minutes or so, if it doesn’t, it’s a medical emergency and the woman can bleed out. The mom in this situation likely wouldn’t have been able to think straight. It’s a miracle she made it outside and actually that probably saved her life since her partner didn’t seem intent on doing it.

That said, actually the person who found them cutting the cord was also incredibly dangerous. It could have killed them both. I know people see this on tv and think that’s what you do when a baby is born, but it’s really dangerous to do when not clamped (for mom and baby due to bleeding) and with unsterile equipment. They were still very lucky this person found them when they did.

Hopefully they get the help and support they need.

Thank you for all of this info. I don’t think I knew about having to clamp it after cutting. I just know to cut it. Hopefully I’m never in this situation!, but I’ve tucked it away in my memory storage.

 

[Ladyotm]

Thank you for all of this info. I don’t think I knew about having to clamp it after cutting. I just know to cut it. Hopefully I’m never in this situation!, but I’ve tucked it away in my memory storage.

Yep, Angel Baby Doe's mom was just identified. According to articles, she died as a result of blood loss after her cord was not clamped.
So happy this baby is healthy and hope she and mom both are on the road to recovery!