Keeva Rossow had no idea when she arrived at an Idaho hospital to give birth in December 2021 that she may not leave with her daughter.
Shortly after Rossow gave birth, a social worker stopped by her hospital room and asked a series of questions, including if she had used controlled substances while pregnant. She told the social worker that she had used THC, or marijuana, for pregnancy-related nausea. Her morning sickness was so severe she had started losing weight, which she knew wasn’t healthy for her or her pregnancy, and the anti-nausea medication her doctor prescribed hadn’t helped.
Rossow didn’t think much of it at the time. The questions felt routine, and she assumed her answers were protected under medical privacy laws, according to Rossow’s attorney, Rick Hearn, whom HuffPost interviewed for this story.
She had given birth to a perfectly healthy baby girl.
Later, as she was recovering, a worker from Child Protective Services and a uniformed police officer came to Rossow’s hospital room. They told her that because she had admitted to prenatal drug use she would be placed on the Idaho Child Protection Central Registry ― the state government’s list of people substantiated for child abuse, neglect or abandonment. She would remain on the registry for a minimum of 10 years. The CPS worker told Rossow they would come to her home to do a welfare check, and that her daughter would be taken from her if she was ever found to be using drugs again.
