"I was so afraid. I was confused. I did not know what was going on or what to expect," Cherise Doyley said of the September 2024 incident
Credit: 4th Judicial Circuit of Florida Courthouse via ProPublica
NEED TO KNOW
- Cherise Doyley has spoken out about being forced to attend a virtual court hearing while she was in active labor in September 2024, after she said she didn’t want to have a C-section
- Staff wheeled in a tablet at the time, and Doyley — who didn’t have legal representation — was made to appear on the Zoom meeting from her hospital bed
- “I was so afraid. I was confused. I did not know what was going on or what to expect,” Doyley recently told ABC News of the incident
A Florida woman is speaking out after she was forced to attend a virtual court hearing while she was in active labor after she refused to have a C-section.
As previously reported by PEOPLE, Cherise Doyley — a then-pregnant mother of three from Jacksonville, Florida — arrived at the University of Florida Health Hospital after going into labor in September 2024.
Doyley, a professional birthing doula, informed medical staff that she wanted to try for a natural birth. However, doctors expressed concerns about the risk of uterine rupture and said she should give birth via C-section.
A uterine rupture is a life-threatening emergency where the uterine wall tears open and causes severe abdominal pain, vaginal bleeding, and fetal distress. It's rare, occurring in about 1 in 300 deliveries, but is more likely in people who attempt a vaginal delivery after having a previous C-section delivery, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
While Doyley was in her 12th hour of active labor at the hospital, a nurse reportedly brought in a tablet with a judge, doctors, lawyers and others on a Zoom court hearing, and she had to attend from her bed, per ABC News.
“That was exactly when I found out that we were going to court,” she told the outlet. “I was so afraid. I was confused. I did not know what was going on or what to expect.”
Doyley had previously said that she accepted the risk of uterine rupture and didn't want to undergo another C-section unless it was an emergency.
She told ABC News, “It was a very hard recovery for me every single time. And it was something that I just didn't want to go through again.”
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A previously published ProPublica report stated that Doyley understood the risk of uterine rupture to be less than 2% and told doctors that she wanted to try having a vaginal delivery before consenting to a C-section.
As well as arguing that her past C-sections had left her with complications, she also expressed concerns that she would not be able to focus on caring for a newborn — or her other three children — while recovering from surgery, PEOPLE previously reported.
Credit: Getty
A recording of the court hearing previously obtained by ProPublica saw Doyley calling the virtual meeting from her hospital bed “the craziest thing I've ever seen.”
On the call were several doctors, lawyers, hospital staff and a judge. Doyley had no legal representation, ProPublica reported.
During the court meeting, Doyley repeatedly asked for a lawyer or a patient advocate, according to ABC News.
At the hearing, Judge Michael Kalil informed Doyley that the state had filed an emergency petition at the hospital's request to grant an emergency C-section in the interest of her unborn child, PEOPLE previously reported.
Doctors from the hospital also expressed their concerns for the baby's welfare and the risk of a vaginal birth, while Doyley then testified that she felt there was little concern for her own well-being.
“I still have rights as an American citizen and as a patient that I am allowed to decide what goes on with me and my body and my baby,” she said in a clip of her testimony.
“If it's between them choosing whether I have to live or the baby has to live, I did tell them that I want to live," she continued. "I have other children out here in the world that need me. And that is my right because at the end of the day, if I die from a C-section, nobody on this call is going to take care of my children."
Credit: Getty
After three hours of testimony, the judge did not order an immediate C-section. However, he said the hospital could perform the surgery without her consent if an emergency were to arise.
Overnight, doctors reportedly said the baby's heart rate had dropped and they rushed Doyley into surgery. She ultimately gave birth via C-section and her baby girl, Arewa, now 1, was taken to the NICU, ProPublica previously reported.
Doyley told the outlet in the piece published in March that she still felt violated by the hospital forcing her into the surgery.
“When we use the courts to basically strong-arm, bully someone into an unnecessary medical procedure against their will, it's akin to torture, in my eyes,” she said.
Mentally competent patients have a right to say no to medical procedures that a doctor recommends, according to the American Medical Association. However, pregnant patients are the exception.
In some states, hospitals can seek a court order if a pregnant patient refuses a recommended intervention, arguing that the fetus has separate rights that must be protected.
PEOPLE has reached out to UFHealth Jacksonville and the State Attorney's Office for Florida's Fourth Judicial Circuit for comment on Doyley's latest interview, but didn't immediately hear back. PEOPLE has also contacted Cherise Doyley.
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