With so many reports of babies being abducted from their hospital rooms, it’s no surprise that the following incident has split opinion this week.
A woman from Arkansas, US has defended her decision to enter a sleeping mother’s hospital room and remove her crying baby, to ‘comfort’ the child.
According to a report by local news outlet Region 8 News, Latasha Harris entered Lory Snyder’s hospital room after hearing the cries of her four-month-old daughter.
Harris is said to have picked up the child and taken her – along with her IV stand – over to her own room, where she tried to comfort her.
“I got her quiet for five minutes and put her back in her crib. She didn’t stay quiet, so I took her back to my room,” recalled Harris.
Harris insists that, with no nurses arriving on the scene to comfort the child while her mother slept, she is confident that she did the right thing.
“The nurse saw me bring the baby to the room. Somebody else down the hallway…saw me bring the baby to the room. Everybody was just looking and smiling,” said Harris, who was in hospital for sickle cell anaemia treatment.
Mum Lory, however, does not feel the same way about the situation. Indeed, she recalls being terrified after waking up to find her baby gone, and a lab technician telling her ‘not to worry’ and that her daughter was ‘safe’.
She then walked across the hall and couldn’t believe her eyes when she found her baby in Harris’ arms, surrounded by nurses.
“You don’t enter a room that is not yours and take a child that does not belong to you – especially from a person you do not know,” said Lory, who insists she would have woken up, had her baby been crying.
After an investigation, police have confirmed that they will not be bringing charges against Harris.
A CEO for the hospital, NEA Baptist Memorial, also said that they are happy with how staff handled the situation.
What are your thoughts on this story, and Harris’ actions?
