I was arrested when pregnant & gave birth whilst handcuffed & shackled…but cutting the cord was the most awkward part
A REFORMED cat burglar has revealed that she was arrested when pregnant and had to give birth whilst being handcuffed and shackled.
Jen Gomez, who spent ten years in prison after stealing more than a million dollars worth of items from other people's homes, now educates others on burglary prevention via social media.
The prisoner turned influencer also shares videos about her life in prison and her experiences as a convicted felon, as she recently revealed all about her horrendous birth story.
Not only were none of her family allowed to be present for the birth of her son, but she also said that cutting the umbilical cord was a very awkward experience too.
Opening up online, Jen shared her video with the caption ‘I found out I was pregnant, then I had my baby in jail.’
She then said: “I spent ten years in prison and in those ten years I had my first and only child, whilst I was in the county jail.
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“It was the worst of the worst of the worst and here is how my labour and delivery went.
“While I was in the county jail, they took me for a regular check up.
“I was admitted to the hospital and yes, if you’ve heard stories about being handcuffed and shackled, yes you are, it is true.
“There were points when I was handcuffed, there were points when I was shackled - it sucked.
“They started my IV drip at 3pm that afternoon. I had that drip all the way until about 7:30am the next morning but during that time I was not dilating at all.
“All of a sudden I was dilating like a crazy person.
“They rushed me into the room, I went from 0 to 100 in 15 minutes.”
Jen then explained that the experience was mortifying, as she was with an officer at all times and was forced to be handcuffed and shackled.
She added: “They had handcuffed my wrist to the rail on the bed. It sucked.
“They put the stirrups up. I pushed for 15 minutes or so.
“I was mortified.
“The entire time, there was an officer with me, the entire night. They are sitting in a chair right next to me.
“I don’t have any of my family members there.
“It was me, my son and a whole bunch of strangers. It was weird as hell.
“I had never seen one of these people a day in my life and the guard, yeah I’ve seen her in the jail, but I don’t know her that well.
“It was hella weird and a little awkward and embarrassing.
“It doesn’t help that you’re handcuffed to the side of the bed whilst all of this is going on.”
Once her son had arrived, Jen then explained the awkward experience of cutting the cord.
She continued: “So the most beautiful, amazing boy comes out.
“At this point it was like ‘who is going to cut the umbilical cord?’, because usually it’s a family member of the dad.
“They’re all looking at each other, it’s really awkward.
“At this point, I was like ‘hey, I’ll cut it’.
“After my son was born, they shackled me right up [again]. It was immediate.
“They put the shackles and the handcuffs right back on.
"You don’t get any privilege. You are going to stay handcuffed, shackled or both, to that hospital bed until you leave.
“It’s s****y. If you want to go to the bathroom, they have to escort you. It’s not a good experience.”
The TikTok clip, which was posted under the username @jenjen.gomez, has clearly left many open-mouthed, as it has quickly racked up 45,200 views.
Social media users were stunned at Jen’s story and were eager to share their thoughts in the comments.
One person said: “What a crazy story.”
Another added: “This is so sad.”
A third commented: “The prison system sucks. Like yeah you did something wrong but you’re not an animal.”
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Whilst someone else agreed: “So wrong and dehumanising and cruel to shackle a labouring birthing woman.”
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