Texas newborn taken from parents in dispute over jaundice

A Texas couple claim state Child Protective Services took their two-week-old baby, Mila, after a dispute with their doctor about the infant’s jaundice.

Now the child’s mother, Temecia Jackson, 38, of Desoto, said the family is going to court to get her back.

When officials arrived at the Jacksons’ Dallas home on March 28 to take the newborn, the couple claims the paperwork erroneously named the baby’s mother as another woman — and that the person listed has a criminal record, according to reports.

The documents also referred to Rodney Jackson as the baby’s “alleged father.”

“Instantly, I felt like they had stolen my baby as I had had a home birth, and they were trying to say my baby belonged to this other woman,” Temecia Jackson said Thursday during a news conference.

“We’ve been treated like criminals — and that’s far from the truth. This is a nightmare I wouldn’t wish on anyone,” her husband Rodney added.

“They removed my newborn baby from my arms and handed me paperwork,” Jackson told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in an email. “I went to the police department and filed a police report that my child was stolen from me.”

Temecia Jackson declined to comment Saturday when reached by The Post.

Mila was born on March 21 at home in Desoto, a suburb of Dallas, with a midwife present.

The Jacksons took her to a local hospital for a routine checkup three days later and she got a clean bill of health.

But when she got jaundice, they took her back to the hospital on March 27, according to reports.

“While at the pediatrician we were told the levels are high and they will test blood, and follow up,” Temecia told the Star-Telegram. “They followed up and said we need to admit baby into the hospital for light therapy immediately.”

The Jacksons said they preferred to do the therapy at home

Infant jaundice, a common condition, occurs because the baby’s blood contains an excess of bilirubin, a yellow pigment of red blood cells.

But a doctor at the hospital, who Temecia Jackson said did not see the baby himself, insisted Mila be hospitalized for treatment because he deemed her levels of bilirubin dangerous. 

On March 28 officials arrived at the Jackson’s home and took Mila.

Mila’s bilirubin level was dangerously high at 21.7, according to the letter from Dr. Anand Bhatt obtained by WFAA that recommended Mila be taken from her parents.

“At a bilirubin over 20, a baby risks brain damage, because the bilirubin can cross the blood-brain barrier,” the doctor wrote.

In the letter, Bhatt said he repeatedly tried to reach the parents and alerted Child Protective Services when he couldn’t get a response from the family.

The Jacksons have since visited their baby in the hospital and are expected in court on April 20.

Cheryl Edinbyrd, the certified professional midwife who attended Mila’s birth, said: ‘CPS has enough to do out here for kids that are really getting beat and abused.

This child was being nurtured. This child was being supported.

And this child was being loved. And this child was kidnapped.’

“We are demanding that Mila be returned home today. Today. Because yesterday was too late.’