Alabama inmate sues jail over unassisted birth in cell

2 min readPublished May 13, 2026

A 28-year-old Alabama woman has filed a federal lawsuit against Houston County Jail and 20 defendants, alleging that staff refused to call an ambulance or summon medical help as she went into preterm labor in May 2024, leaving fellow inmates to deliver her baby girl.

Named among the 20 defendants in the Middle District of Alabama filing are the on-duty guards, a nurse, a physician's assistant, and the county sheriff; the complaint accuses all of them of depriving McElroy of her constitutional rights, according to NBC News. McElroy was about eight months pregnant when she was arrested on a charge of endangering her unborn child through substance use.

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The baby arrived limp and not breathing, and two women in McElroy's pod kept her alive, clearing mucus from her airway and rubbing her body until she let out a cry, according to the complaint. Paramedics took McElroy to the hospital after the delivery; the lawsuit states she had developed anemia as a result of blood loss during the birth, according to NBC News. Her daughter spent time in the neonatal intensive care unit.

"At the end of the day, I felt like I was made to give birth like an animal," McElroy told NBC News.

Youngblood, who is among the defendants and previously worked as a deputy at the facility, described what happened as "barbaric" and told NBC News she was warned by a supervisor that helping McElroy would cost her her job. Houston County Commission Chairman Brandon Shoupe pointed to the ongoing litigation as his reason for declining to comment; the Houston County Sheriff's Office did not reply to requests for comment.

Pregnancy Justice, which is representing McElroy alongside the Southern Poverty Law Center, said the case reflects broader failures in pregnancy care at Alabama jails. Alabama ranks first nationally in the prosecution of pregnancy-related offenses; a Pregnancy Justice report found that at least 192 individuals in the state faced such charges between 2022 and 2024, according to NBC News.

McElroy's daughter is now almost 2 years old. U.S. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, a California Democrat, has put forward federal legislation that would set higher care standards for pregnant people behind bars and establish pregnancy tracking requirements — a measure shaped in part by a yearlong NBC News and Bloomberg Law investigation that uncovered widespread mistreatment of pregnant women in jails across the country.

Alabama woman sues Houston County Jail over birth of baby in cell without medical care

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