0 Copied Annie Flanagan for NBC News This article was published in partnership with Bloomberg Law. When Chasity Congious went into labor for the first time, there were no doctors or nurses. No clean blankets to swaddle the coming baby. There were no family members, no friends. Congious wasn’t even in a hospital. She was alone in a jail cell. Four months earlier, she suffered a mental health crisis and her mother called 911 for help. Instead, police arrested the 21-year-old. Now, the contractions were getting stronger, with no way to ease the soaring pain. Bleeding, she said, she pressed the emergency intercom button, but no one came. She tried to get up from the thin, dirty mat, but could not. The baby girl was born into the pant leg of Congious’ beige uniform on May 17, 2020, in the Tarrant County, Texas, jail. The newborn struggled to breathe. The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck — a common problem often resolved with a quick unraveling by a doctor’s hands. But no one was there to help. Congious’ daughter, named Zenorah, died days later. Horrific scenes like this are unfolding in jails across the country, according to a yearlong investigation from Bloomberg Law and NBC
