Former Nurse gives birth on train, refuses help

allnurses Guide · Aug 2, 2003

I've been thinking along the same lines . . . . I'd be so shocked and maybe even embarrassed that I might freeze also. And I know better than to trust the media. I cannot tell you how many times the newspaper will tell a story about an accident that came through our ER and have most of the facts wrong.

And I think I did mention on one of these posts that a good friend of mine had her 6th child while standing in the shower.

I'm gonna cut her a little slack . . .

Brownms46 · Aug 2, 2003

steph I had seen the same thing happen with the media. Once when I was a teen at the mall, one of those roving reporter as they were called, asked us a question. When the story finally came out, if my pic hadn't been above the "answer" I gave, I would have never recognized what I read as being what I actually said!

After that I have always taken what I read with a big grain of salt. I usually read several accounts of the story, to try and figure out what really happened. Some reporters are better at accurate reporting then others.

allnurses Guide · Aug 2, 2003

Hi Brownie . . . yep, even simple things get messed up. One time there was a small plane that crashed at our local airport. No one was hurt but it was an interesting story because the guy had built the plane himself . . anyway, the story came out that the plane crashed in a town 17 miles from us.

If they can mess up something that simple, then we'd BETTER take things with a grain of salt.

Sheesh . . I've got to get to bed . . . I love my quiet evenings though . .. the baby is in bed with Daddy, my daughter and oldest son are camping along side a beautiful river just 3 miles away and my 18 year old just came in . . ON TIME! And switched on ESPN . . . . bye bye quiet.

Goodnight . . .

Brownms46 · Aug 2, 2003

NITE steph :)

gypsyatheart · Aug 2, 2003

Steph, Brownie, and others,

I do think she needs a little slack here. Her life sounds like it's upside down right now...hopefully, now, she will get some help.

I just feel so strongly about mother/baby issues, I tend to get a little riled up! :)

geekgolightly, BSN, RN · Aug 2, 2003

Originally posted by stevielynn
And I think I did mention on one of these posts that a good friend of mine had her 6th child while standing in the shower.

I'm gonna cut her a little slack . . .

WHOA!

actually i hope that my labor goes as easily. i am to deliver sometime in january. hopefully at home with a midwife.

allnurses Guide · Aug 2, 2003

This was home with a midwife so be careful.

She had gone to take a shower in preparation for a water delivery in their hot tub. Her husband was getting the tub ready and the midwife was getting her stuff ready and out plopped the baby . . well, not exactly "plop".

Good luck. :chuckle

steph

-jt · Aug 3, 2003

My 16 y old daughter read the article with me and has one thing to say: "well if she had just put some panties on before she went out..........."

I cant fault the woman for her affect during the birth. I got to the hospital with one of my babies already crowning. The L& D RN tried to get a history from me but I couldnt speak. All I could do was blankly stare at her. I couldnt think clearly & couldnt process what she was saying. She might as well have been speaking a foreign language. No way could I have made any rational decisions in that condition. How much worse it must be if there is also an underlying psych problem. Maybe the passengers should have insisted on helping her instead of judging her.

Where were the other mothers on that train anyway?

Interesting that the article quotes only the male passengers, who were totally grossed out, no doubt.

jnette, ASN, EMT-I · Aug 3, 2003

Originally posted by -jt
My 16 y old daughter read the article with me and has one thing to say: "well if she had just put some panties on before she went out..........."

Have thought of that myself... what WOULD have happened if she had been wearing slacks??? How horrible would that have been?

Good to see those of you out there considering all aspects before judging... we just never know. We can't speak for her.

Hardknox · Aug 4, 2003

A follow up on the former nurse . This was in the Sunday Globe:

courTesy

The story of Joyce M. Judge giving birth on an inbound Red Line train last week was, for us, both sad and happy. Sad that the situation happened at all, and that this apparently troubled mother's muted reaction made the front page. It was a hard story to cover.

It was happy, however, when we accentuated the positive; the baby is reportedly healthy, Judge is getting help, and the train's passengers tried as best they could to rally around her and her child. For that, we were pleased. Despite the no-look coldness of most Boston subway rides, there are good, caring people sitting next to you.

Sometimes.

In hindsight, we ask this: Before her water broke and the birth of baby Robert became evident, did anyone offer Joyce M. Judge a seat on the crowded train?

We heard from passengers last week that Judge did not appear pregnant. And given her polite refusal of any and all help after the birth, we wonder if she would have taken an offered seat. Still, a lack of courtesy on T trains is a constant complaint. To hear the latest complaints, we didn't have to go far.

''As a pregnant woman reading the story about the woman who gave birth on the Red Line, I couldn't help but wonder whether any of the passengers who offered the woman help after delivery had thought to offer her a seat beforehand,'' wrote one Globe co-worker. ''While it's quite possible that she declined help, I have personally been surprised by how easily T riders can ignore the pregnant woman in the aisle.

''At 6 1/2 months pregnant, when I had to change trains from the Red to Green lines, other passengers obliviously darted in front of me to pile onto a nearly packed car. A teenager slid past me and into a seat. Others filled the remaining vacant spots to leave me standing, quite obviously pregnant, in the aisle.

''Before I was pregnant, I imagined I would find it patronizing if someone gave up a seat for me; now I would relish such an offer, and not just to relieve my tired feet. Feeling clumsy and off-balance with the extra weight of pregnancy, a woman feels extremely protective about her growing belly and fearful of slamming against a seat or metal handrail when the train lurches -- as it always does. It's uncomfortable enough taking the T while pregnant.''

Another co-worker entering her ninth month wrote that rarely has anyone on the T offered her a seat.

''When my husband and I went to the theater less than a month ago, we took the T from Government Center to the Boylston stop and had to change trains at Park Street. On one crowded leg of the trip, I stood next to a man in his 40s who was seated next to what appeared to be his pre-teenage son. Although he made eye contact with me and clearly noticed the load I was carrying, the man did not offer his seat to me. Neither did anyone else that night.

''Having lived in other parts of the country, I seriously wonder whether pregnant women encounter such a lack of courtesy in other locales. I must say I doubt it.''

The T had posted 1,000 ''car cards'' in subway trains in 2001, all promoting a ''Courtesy Counts'' campaign that encouraged passengers to offer their seat to someone in need.

''We'll start producing another thousand later this month,'' said the T's Joe Pesaturo.