Babies really don't need "fresh air." Okay, maybe a little bit. But not when the little guy is fresh out of the womb and fitted with a baby LoJack. In fact, anyone who tries to take a baby outside when he is supposed to be inside a hospital, will be in for a rude awakening.
Even if you're a Kennedy, as Douglas Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy, is facing misdemeanor charges of child endangerment and harassment from two nurses who claim he confronted them physically, when they tried to keep the new dad from taking his baby outside for a stroll.
On the one hand, can't fathers be allowed to go anywhere they want with their children? On the other hand, no, not when a hospital is in charge of that child's well-being.
Perhaps the Kennedys will consider a home birth next time.
Douglas Kennedy -- who is backed up by a physician who witnessed the incident, and is also a family friend -- claims he tried to take his newborn son out for some fresh air when two nurses attempted to stop him, physically. Kennedy claims he was protecting his son, but the nurses claim he knocked one down, and twisted the other's arm. Kennedy denies the arm-twisting.
While I would let my husband take my baby wherever he wanted, I do understand how hospitals have to keep things on lock down. Anything else would be considered negligence. I don't see, however, why Douglas Kennedy has to be charged with child endangerment. Bad judgment, maybe. Endangerment seems a bit over-the-top.
But let this be a lesson to those of you giving birth in a hospital setting; ask before picking that baby up and running out. Or risk the kung-fu antics of nurses and criminal charges.
Do you think Douglas Kennedy should be charged?
Image via rtopalovich/Flickr