Inmate forced to give birth alone inside Tennessee jail cell

A Tennessee inmate was forced to give birth inside her cell Sunday when guards reportedly shot down her request to be taken to a hospital, officials said.

The unidentified pregnant woman was being housed in the medical pod at the Montgomery County Jail, roughly 50 miles northwest of Nashville, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.

She first alerted a deputy about a “medical concern” around 11:30 a.m., and a nurse arrived within minutes.

After conducting an assessment, the nurse left to consult with additional medical staff, but did not return to check on the laboring mom for another 20 minutes, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

“After the follow-up assessment, the medical staff left the cell but continued to assess the situation and order additional medical tests. Deputies continued to check on the inmate during this time,” the department said.

During one of these additional checks, a deputy — rather than medical staff — “discovered that the inmate had given birth while in her cell.”

The inmate had delivered the baby shortly after 12:40 p.m., over an hour after she first asked jail staff for help.

According to a fellow inmate, the new mother had been clear to deputies that she was experiencing contradictions and asked to be taken to the hospital.

The staff outright refused, leaving her to give birth alone without medical care, the fellow inmate speaking on condition of anonymity told Clarksville Now.

The mother-and-child pair were only taken to the hospital after the birth.

Luckily, both are in stable condition, the sheriff’s office said.

The MCSO did not immediately respond to questions by The Post surrounding the delay in providing medical care.

A review of the incident is underway, according to the department.

Several women have sued after giving birth inside their jail cells, claiming their pleas for help were ignored.

A 26-year-old Maryland woman claimed last year that some staff even laughed at her as she labored for six hours while locked in solitary confinement — and forced her to slide her amniotic sac under the door to prove she was about to deliver.