Lawsuit: Allegheny Co. Jail gave poor care during woman's pregnancy, miscarriage

A Wilkinsburg woman alleged that poor care by medical staff at the Allegheny County Jail caused her to lose her pregnancy and suffer a painful, days-long miscarriage, according to a lawsuit filed this week in federal court.

A county spokeswoman declined to comment on the pending litigation.

Kenya Harper and her attorney wrote in the lawsuit, which names Allegheny County and several county jail employees, that she found out she was pregnant Nov. 13, 2020. Seven days later she was charged in connection with a homicide months earlier and taken to the Allegheny County Jail.

Harper said medical staff at the jail confirmed that she was around eight weeks along. The suit says Harper told them that she’d had two prior difficult pregnancies and warned her blood type is B negative, noting that if the baby’s blood type was positive, she would likely miscarry.

She had an appointment with a doctor at the jail a week after she arrived at the facility, according to the lawsuit, and each week for the rest of 2020. The doctor, identified only as “Dr. Anderson,” said during each appointment he couldn’t find the baby’s heartbeat but said that was normal, according to the lawsuit.

Harper eventually ended up at West Penn Hospital in early January, where she was told she’d miscarried at around 10 weeks, according to the lawsuit. Rather than being given a procedure to remove the fetus, she was sent back to the jail.

Days later, she began to bleed profusely, she said, and after being forced to walk to the infirmary, she was taken to the emergency room. There, she said, she continued to miscarry.

According to the lawsuit, hospital staff did not take proper care of the remains. The woman was sent back to the jail with pills that would make her continue the miscarriage, according to the lawsuit.

The bleeding and miscarriage continued for a week, according to the lawsuit. She said she was given diapers. Later, she alleged, she was cut off from proper mental health care and given the run-around when she tried to file a grievance.

The lawsuit alleges that the county and unnamed jail staff violated her rights by failing to provide proper medical treatment despite the fact she’d told them of her history of difficult pregnancies. It also faults the county for failing to properly train its staff at the jail.

The lawsuit requests damages for pain and suffering, emotional distress, humiliations and embarrassment plus punitive damages.