FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 4, 2008
Contact: Jodi Selander
Placenta Benefits, Ltd.
702.947.0879
PR@placentabenefits.info
UNDER PRESSURE, SUNRISE HOSPITAL REVERSES STANCE
— Hospital to Release Placenta After Forcing Mother to Obtain Court Order —
LAS VEGAS, NV – A triumphant group of mother advocates will gather near Sunrise Hospital on Monday, April 7, at 10 a.m. to stand up for a woman’s right of ownership to her baby’s placenta. Most hospitals in the Valley support a mother’s right to take the placenta after giving birth – Sunrise and North Vista have been the unfortunate exceptions.
Erin Martinez delivered her baby at Sunrise Hospital in late March. Sunrise Hospital told her she would need a court order before they would release her baby’s placenta. They had given her two weeks to do so before they would destroy the placenta Monday April 7, 2008.
Thursday, April 3, Sunrise Hospital notified Martinez’s lawyers that they would instead be releasing the placenta to her. The rally will celebrate the hospital’s sudden decision to honor the requests by healthy mothers for healthy placentas. If Sunrise does indeed change its policy, they will join the ranks of other mother-friendly hospitals, which include Summerlin, St. Rose, Spring Valley, Southern Hills and Mountain View. The lone dissenter remains North Vista Hospital.
The rally will take place nearly a year after a similar rally supporting Anne Swanson. Swanson’s placenta was eventually returned, following a decision by Judge Susan Johnson in the case of Swanson vs. Sunrise Hospital, July 2007.
Placenta encapsulation has become popular in the Las Vegas Valley, a practice that has a long history of providing postpartum benefits to mothers. Many women find that placenta capsules help them avoid the “baby blues”, have more energy, increase their milk production, and recover more quickly from the pregnancy and birth.
The state of Hawaii guarantees mothers the right to take the placenta from hospitals. Advocates in Nevada are preparing similar legislation for the upcoming legislative session.
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