In re A.M. CA2/1

BACKGROUND

A. The detention report In October 2013, the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) reported the following in connection with a detention hearing before the juvenile court to determine whether the minor should be removed immediately from the care of Mother and Father. In October 2013, DCFS received a referral that Mother and Father had sought medical attention for A.M., who was approximately a week old and had been born at home. Father told medical personnel he had delivered A.M., removed the placenta, cut the umbilical cord, and cleaned A.M. after she was born. Mother told medical personnel that A.M. was her first baby, which was not true. Mother also stated she “only had one prenatal appointment because she didn’t know she was pregnant” and did not go to the hospital or call 911 when the baby was born because “it was the middle of the night and the baby came really fast,” and because she “didn’t know what childbirth would feel like.” Mother admitted to using cocaine daily, but stated that “when she found out she was pregnant,” she used cocaine only weekly. She also stated she had last used drugs

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Welfare and…