Arizona parents are demanding answers after sharing an upsetting video that purports to show hospital staff drop one of their premature twin daughters on her head just moments after birth.
Monique and Derrick Rodgers, of Chandler, welcomed their twins, Morgan and Madison, ahead of schedule on Valentine’s Day at Chandler Regional Medical Center.
Just days later, they say their daughter Morgan, who was born underweight, suffered a hemorrhage on the left side of her brain, and the parents want to know if it was caused by the doctor seemingly dropping their child onto a hospital bassinet, head first.
This screenshot is taken from a video shot by Derrick Rodgers, which shows his daughter Morgan being cleaned up by doctors after her delivery in February
The video appears to show a doctor losing his grip of the prematurely born twin girl, causing her to fall head first onto a hospital bassinet (left and right)
Another medic saves the baby from potentially falling off the bassinet to the floor
The staff do not appear to acknowledge what happened among themselves, and the baby’s parents say they never apologized
In the cellphone video recorded by the father and shared by him on Facebook on Wednesday, the tiny crying infant appears to narrowly avoid falling to the floor while being cleaned from the delivery by a team of three hospital workers.
Baby Morgan is saved by another staffer, who snatches her from mid-air after the doctor loses his grip on the child. The entire episode lasts mere seconds.
As of Friday morning, the Rodgers’ video has been viewed more than 1.3million times and shared more than 48,000 times.
Derrick told ABC15 that when he saw what happened, he was enraged and confronted the doctor, who he says let his daughter slip out of his hand.
‘I told him, “You dropped my baby,”’ he recalled. ‘He had like a nonchalant look on his face. Then I showed him the video, and he had nothing to say after that.’
Morgan remained in the neonatal intensive care unit for 12 days post-delivery because she was born weighing just 3lbs 4oz. On the fifth day of her hospital stay, a head ultrasound was performed on the infant.
Monique and Derrick Rodgers are pictured with their twins Morgan (left) and Madison (right) at their home in Chandler, Arizona, nearly three months after the birth
Morgan was diagnosed with a small brain hemorrhage five days after her delivery, and the parents demand to know if it was caused by the drop
The Rodgers told Fox 10 they did not get the results of the test until six weeks later. The ultrasound showed that their daughter suffered a grade 1 germinal matrix hemorrhage, or a small bleed, in her brain.
Monique and her husband, who also have two older children, are angry because they say the doctors never acknowledged, or apologized for, dropping their daughter.
‘For them to just drop your baby and you don’t know if there’s going to be any long-term damage because no one has ever talked to you, no one has brought it to your attention,’ the mother said with tears streaming down her face.
Nearly three months later, the mother says Morgan has begun exhibiting behaviors that she believes are not normal.
The Arizona couple also have an older son (pictured) and daughter
‘She clenches up and she shakes… it doesn’t seem normal,’ Monique said.
The parents say they have to wait until August to take their daughter to a neurologist for an evaluation.
Meanwhile, the hospital in Chandler released a statement saying it cannot comment on the matter, citing patient privacy laws.
‘The safety of our patients and their families is always our top concern,’ it went on to say. ‘The medical team at Dignity Health Chandler Regional Medical Center takes this matter extremely seriously and is working to conduct a comprehensive review.’