Pressure from hospital staff, disregard for her right to choose what happens to her own body, and ultimately criminal prosecution and a final conviction. Add a health insurance company’s claim for nearly 1.5 million, and you have the case of a woman who was convicted for giving birth with tragic consequences. And this despite the fact that, until the verdict was handed down, she did not know what specific actions were supposed to be criminal. Her attorney is now preparing an appeal to the Supreme Court. 

Unfortunately, the cost of legal services is beyond the convicted woman’s financial means. Yet her case is important not only for her, but for all women giving birth who need to feel safe during childbirth and make decisions according to their best knowledge and conscience, based on free and informed consent. Without coercion or the threat of criminal prosecution. 

Please donate and help this woman cover the costs of defending her rights. Help defend the right to a free birth and informed consent without coercion. Join us #CloserToJustice 

We are asking for support for a woman who was charged and has now been definitively convicted for giving birth to her child at home, who subsequently died. This is an unfortunate event and a tragedy for the family, not a criminal offense. We consider it unacceptable to hold women criminally liable for decisions regarding their own bodies and childbirth. Childbirth should not involve fear of criminal prosecution; this is in direct conflict with the right to informed consent, personal freedom, and human dignity. It contradicts how childbirth should take place—in peace, safety, and with respect for the woman. Furthermore, this case poses a threat to all women and their reproductive rights, regardless of where they give birth. 

For two years now, we have been helping the woman cover the costs of the criminal proceedings. In January, in collaboration with attorney Zuzana Candigliota, she filed an appeal with the Supreme Court. 

The woman was convicted of negligent homicide and sentenced to a one-year suspended sentence with a 15-month probationary period. The health insurance company was referred to civil proceedings regarding its claim of 1.4 million CZK, but it has already begun seeking recovery of the amount from the woman. 

The birth took place in 2022. The young woman had originally planned to give birth at the maternity hospital, but despite promises, she was not allowed to have a vaginal delivery in a breech presentation, and the staff pressured her to have a cesarean section. The woman did not want to give birth by cesarean section, mainly due to past family experiences with complications. She wanted to give natural childbirth a chance, which is common even in breech births. 

She left the hospital and went home, where labor began, and she gave birth to the baby in the presence of her husband. Due to asphyxia during delivery, the newborn was born in serious condition and, despite immediate resuscitation, died about a month later. 

The woman was accused, indicted, and ultimately convicted of negligent homicide. The proceedings were conducted in a completely biased manner, and the woman’s right to a fair trial was not respected. Until the verdict was announced, she was not informed of which specific actions of hers were deemed criminal. The indictment described the events as follows: for example, she disregarded the advice of medical staff; she was informed that she needed to undergo a cesarean section, but she signed a refusal form; she traveled to her place of permanent residence, where she gave birth to a newborn who suffered brain damage as a result of hypoxia. However, all of these actions constitute the exercise of a woman’s right to personal freedom, to free and informed consent, and to bodily integrity. Furthermore, at the time she refused the cesarean section, the fetus was completely healthy, there were no signs of hypoxia, and it was not an acute situation. The fact that a hypoxic process was apparently occurring in the woman’s body at the time of delivery—a situation that would have been difficult to manage even during a vaginal delivery at a hospital—cannot be a criminal offense. In complete violation of the rules of criminal procedure, it was only in her closing statement that the prosecutor added to the indictment an alleged error in the resuscitation of the newborn, which the judge included in the judgment. 

During the proceedings, it was not proven that hypoxia or harm to the child’s health and life had occurred at the hospital. On the contrary, the defense submitted a biostatistical expert opinion indicating that approximately 120 to 130 full-term infants die in maternity wards each year, with hypoxia being the most common cause. There are several dozen stillborn babies in breech position each year. 
The argument that a woman cannot be forced to undergo a cesarean section was rejected on the grounds that she is not being tried for refusing a cesarean section or for giving birth at home, but for giving birth without adequate medical care during and after delivery. The judge did not take into account at all that the hospital staff refused to provide her with care during a vaginal birth. 
Midwife and psychologist Kristina Zemánková testified before the court as follows: 

Klára Šimáčková Laurenčíková, then the Government Commissioner for Human Rights, submitted an amicus curiae brief to the court, expressing concern over the criminal prosecution of a woman in connection with her free choice of the place and method of childbirth. This was ignored, as was the fact that the government itself had argued before the European Court of Human Rights that the choice of home birth is not criminalized in the Czech Republic, even if it is not preferred. Case law was also ignored, according to which certain events are objectively unfortunate or tragic in nature, but this does not mean that a harmful consequence must lead to the conclusion of criminal culpability on the part of any person and that a culprit must be sought at all costs. 

From the perspective of women’s dignity and their reproductive rights, we consider it unacceptable that a tragic outcome of childbirth—and the fact that a woman refused the course of care imposed by medical professionals—should result in criminal liability for the woman, exposing her to the threat of imprisonment and ruinous compensation payments to the insurance company. Free and informed consent also applies to women during childbirth and is a fundamental human right in the provision of healthcare. We will advocate for this not only in the upcoming proceedings before the Supreme Court, but also before the Constitutional Court and international bodies. 

It is easy to disagree with this particular woman’s choice regarding childbirth; however, her decision was not made freely but under pressure, after she was denied the option of a vaginal birth at the hospital and was cornered by the staff. Nevertheless, the same principle applies to women in the hospital as well. All it takes is for the birth to go wrong and for the woman to have previously refused the procedure proposed by medical staff. This need not be a cesarean section, but perhaps induction of labor or another intervention that may be risky or controversial, yet subsequently labeled as the cause for expediency. Enforced obedience through the threat of criminal prosecution replaces free and informed consent and respectful care. This is a step backward in terms of women’s human rights during childbirth, reminiscent of totalitarianism, and also a threat to maternity hospitals striving for a respectful approach. This is particularly relevant right now, as a media witch hunt is underway against one such respectful maternity hospital, accusing the doctors there of failing to allow the mother to give birth naturally. The attempt to criminalize births is dangerous for everyone who wants respectful care, regardless of the birth location.

This woman’s case has already required dozens of hours of work by attorney Zuzana Candigliota and external consultants, as well as additional costs. 

For more information about the campaign and the fundraiser, please contact:

Markéta Braunová

PR and Fundraising Coordinator

marketa.braunova@llp.cz