THE BIG PUSH

‘Bullied’ Mom Rips Forced C-Section Zoom Court While in Labor

“It’s akin to torture,” Cherise Doyley said of the situation that unfolded when she insisted on a natural birth.

A Florida mom is still fuming after she was forced to attend a hospital Zoom court hearing while in active labor when she objected to a C-section. Cherise Doyley—a then-pregnant mother of three from Jacksonville, Florida—had to attend the hearing from her bed at the University of Florida Health Hospital in late 2024, when she said she wanted a natural birth instead of having her belly cut open. Doctors, who were worried about the small chance of a uterine rupture, objected. Doyley had no legal representation. The hearing was called on behalf of her unborn fetus. It’s the “craziest thing I’ve ever seen‚” she said at the time. While concerned about her baby-to-be, she told the judge: “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.” The judge didn’t order a C-section, but said the hospital could perform the surgery without her consent in an emergency. Doyley soon gave birth via C-section to her baby girl, Arewa, who is now over a year old. “When we use the courts to basically... bully someone into an unnecessary medical procedure against their will, it’s akin to torture,” she told Pro Publica.

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