Are There Special Maternity Ward Rules Just For Kennedys?

Molly and Douglas Kennedy with baby Boru

After the revelation that Douglas Kennedy, youngest son of Robert F. and Ethel Kennedy, was charged with harassment and child endangerment after an apparent confrontation with maternity ward nurses, the husband of the nurse allegedly kicked in the crotch spoke out to the Daily News, "Her comment to me that night was, ‘I was assaulted tonight and could you believe it, it was a Kennedy who did it?'"

On January 7, Kennedy wanted to take his two-day-old son Boru from Northern Westchester Hospital, but maternity ward nurses stopped him and physically blocked him from leaving. He allegedly twisted the wrist of one nurse, Anna Lane, and when another nurse, Cari Luciano, moved forward to "stabilize the baby's head," Kennedy allegedly kicked Luciano in the pelvis. Video shows Luciano falling backwards, and Kennedy himself fell backwards (the newborn was okay).

View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.

Kennedy and his wife, Molly, issued a statement, "We are sickened by the fact that our simple desire to take our healthy baby son out for a walk has been warped into child endangerment. Nobody should try grab a baby from a parent’s arms, as these nurses tried to do," and their lawyer said the nurses were just looking for money. And Dr. Timothy Haydock, who works in the hospital's ER and has known the Kennedys for decades, said it was fine for Kennedy to take the baby outside, "I witnessed the incident and I can state unequivocally that the nurses were the only aggressors."

But Luciano's husband questioned the Kennedy version of events. Steve Luciano said, "My wife was assisting Anna to simply encourage Mr. Kennedy to place the child back into its bassinet." (Seriously—if you're having a disagreement with a nurse, why not just stop for a minute and talk to her/him? Why freak out and run to the stairwell?) He added, "Cari is probably 5 feet tall on her best day," and pointed out that babies born in the ward have GPS monitoring tags: "My understanding is that Mr. Kennedy took it off and said something like, ‘My son needs to get fresh air.' From my perspective, the doctor [Haydock] assumed that between your name [Kennedy] and my status, what rules apply?"

Lane and Cari Luciano's lawyer Eliot Taub, a personal injury lawyer, said that rules for removing babies from the maternity ward are very strict and it was unclear whether Kennedy was authorized to do so, "They have been instructed as per hospital guidelines that each newborn cannot leave the ward without written permission by medical personnel." Steve Luciano said, "I don’t think that anybody, even a Kennedy, should go around kicking hospital personnel and believe there are no ramifications."

And the Journal News reports, "This incident is not the first run-in involving a Kennedy, Northern Westchester Hospital and Mount Kisco police. In 2007, Mary Kennedy, Douglas’s sister-in-law, resisted help outside the hospital after her husband, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., drove her there to see a psychologist because he was worried about her mental state."

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By Jen Chung in News on February 26, 2012 10:25 AM

Comments [rss]

DJ

The nurse called a "code pink" for child abduction, even though she knew the "abductor" was the father. It's a typical attitude among American medics to act like they own or control you. Sometimes they need to be reminded that they're service providers and the patients are paying customers. The kick was excessive, but I don't blame him for refusing to comply. A hospital isn't a prison.

Margaret Tudor

You state the nurse 'knew' the 'abductor' was the father. Please post positive proof or links supporting your assumption.

goober

Because if he were a real kidnapper the nurses would have immediately called security and the police, not put their hands on him and try to take the baby themselves. He also had permission from the nurse assigned to his wife's room, in addition to the ER doctor. Since when is a hospital a prison where one loses all parental rights?

abscission

She is hideous. Also, "Boru"?

Adam Moreira

Why don't they ban the Kennedys from the hospital in the future in non-emergency cases? Just because you're rich doesn't mean you have your own set of rules!

Margaret Tudor

I was just thinking that ANY hospital or medical facility of any kind would be leery of having Douglas Kennedy, his wife, or his kids in their care after what went down.

KenLayIsAlive.org

Another arrogant jerk who cannot fathom he has to obey "one of them".

No matter if he was right to take the kid outside, he lost all his respectability the second he did his upper-class kung-fu routine on a couple of nurses.

What a complete asshole.

goober

He fell with the baby in his arms when the nurses tried to physically take the baby from him.

Mr Mel

Although it's too late to test them, I'm thinking both Kennedy and the ER Doctor were drunk.

Margaret Tudor

THIS!!

janesoutham

The "Dr." Tim Haydock is a longtime Kennedy groupie who's always at the family functions. As an ER doctor he has no authority over the baby. He has to go by the rules too. Perhaps he told Kennedy that he needed to take the GPR bracelet off so the alarm wouldn't be tripped.

What's really shocking is that the "Dr" didn't bother to help the nurse when she fell. He was too busy enabling Kennedy with his little scheme. I am sure he was more worried about staying in the little Kennedy inner circle than the welfare of the nurse.

goober

Kennedy fell with the baby the same time the nurse "fell." The Dr. was helping the father. I can't believe that so many people think that you surrender your parental rights in a hospital. The nurses had no rigt to put their hands on him or to grab the baby out of his arms. They are not police officers and they have no right to detain anyone.

Margaret Tudor

Check your facts-or your looking at them through Kennedy-tinted glasses. Kennedy's OWN ATTORNEY issued a statement that KENNEDY kicked the nurse. He lost his balance because of the force of that kick. The man's a psycho imo.

goober

His lawyer did not say that he kicked her. He said that he lifted up his knee to protect the baby, and the nurse fell. He should never have had to protect the baby or himself at all because those nurses had no right to put their hands on him AT ALL.

birdtird

The kid's like 6 seconds old and already embedded in controversy, way to fuckng do it the kennedy way

Margaret Tudor

ROTFL!! So true!! I had not thought of that!

terri odinn

The child was 3 days old when this took place. The same age the vast majority of infants are already home with their parents.

Rocknrope

Really? Because I actually thought he was 6 seconds old. As in, they just snipped the cord and were half finished wiping him down when the dad said "Excuuuuse me" and Heisman'd the kid out into the hallway.

Jen Chung

When I had my baby, they wouldn't discharge us unless we had a car seat. I think it's one thing to walk around the hospital after you've been discharged, but it's another thing while the baby is still technically a patient of the hospital—hence the rules.