Mark Caudill, Mansfield News Journal Published 1:32 p.m. ET July 3, 2020
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MANSFIELD – Jamie Haynes went through a safe-sleep assessment when she gave birth to Massiah Taylor, a hospital nurse said Friday.
Haynes, 32, of Mansfield, is charged with involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide and endangering children in connection with Massiah’s death on July 28, 2018.
Massiah died when he was 14 days old of positional asphyxia. Prosecutors allege Haynes got drunk and fell asleep with Massiah on a couch in the 200 block of Abbeyfeale Road.
Kelly Payne testified on the fourth day of Haynes’ trial before Richland County Common Pleas Judge Brent Robinson.
She has been the nurse manager for the postpartum unit of the obstetrics department at OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital for the past four years.
She said her job is to help educate mothers. Payne said all women who give birth at OhioHealth receive verbal and written instructions on how to keep their babies safe.
Posters on the walls of each room go over the ABCs of safe sleep. Babies should be alone, on their backs, in a crib, the posters say.
According to the educational materials, three babies in Ohio die each week while sleeping. Of those, two were sleeping with an adult on a couch, bed or chair.
“Every time you do it (co-sleep), it increases the risk that something bad will happen,” Payne told Assistant Prosecutor Olivia Boyer on direct examination. “You could roll over on top of your baby. Your baby could slide down between your leg and a couch.
“Our goal is to get all babies to celebrate their first baby.”
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If nurses at OhioHealth find a new mother asleep with her baby in her arms while at the hospital, they will move the baby to a bassinet and check on the mom more frequently.
If parents can’t afford a crib, a free one will be provided to them.
The educational materials also advise mothers not to drink during pregnancy or after the birth of the child.
“In order to keep your child safe, you need to be aware of what’s going on,” Payne said.
Prosecutors allege Haynes removed Massiah from a crib, where he was safe, and brought him downstairs to sleep with her on a couch after a celebratory cookout involving whiskey and beer.
On cross-examination by defense attorney Sean Boone, Payne said she was not directly involved with Haynes’ care while she was at OhioHealth.
Boone also pointed out that a 44-page booklet on caring for babies devoted only a page and a half to safe-sleeping.
Payne said the booklet does not say co-sleeping is criminal when asked by the defense attorney.
“It (co-sleeping) is not uncommon, is it?” Boone asked.
“No, which is why we educate,” Payne responded.
On direct examination, Payne had said the hospital’s instructional book was updated in 2019, after Haynes gave birth. She said the content was “very similar” and that instructions for safe-sleeping had not changed during her four years in obstetrics.
County Coroner Dan Burwell followed Payne to the witness stand. He reiterated the cause of Massiah’s death was positional asphyxia and said the manner of death was an accident.
During his time with the coroner’s office, Burwell said he has seen an average of three to five baby deaths a year in Richland County that were caused by co-sleeping.
mcaudill@gannett.com
419-521-7219
Twitter: @MNJCaudill
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