Susan Horton had been a stay-at-home mom for almost 20 years, and now—pregnant with her fifth child—she felt a hard-won confidence in herself as a mother.
Then she ate a salad from Costco.
Horton didn’t realize that she would be drug-tested before her child’s birth. Or that the poppy seeds in her salad could trigger a positive result on a urine drug screen, the quick test that hospitals often use to check pregnant patients for illicit drugs. Many common foods and medications—from antacids to blood pressure and cold medicines—can prompt erroneous results.
If Horton had been tested under different circumstances—for example, if she was a government employee and required to be tested as part of her job—she would have been entitled to a more advanced test and to a review from a specially trained doctor to confirm the initial result.
It looks like they flagged her because she missed multiple check up appointments prior to delivery too, which apparently is a common sign of drug abuse. It really just seems like she’s overwhelmed time-wise and really doesn’t need 5 children but that’s her choice as long as they aren’t harmed.
Well, one of her kids is obese, and I would call that abuse.
But the article was a whirlwind of dumb procedures and overreactions.
Well, one of her kids is obese, and I would call that abuse.
Personally I wouldn’t be so quick to judge on that. 1 out of 3 kids we can see in the photos is overweight, the other two look healthy. There might be something else at play with that one child, which is out of her control, we don’t know that.
Unreasonable assumption. The usual prenatal appointments are a recommendation, not a requirement. Many people don’t go to them, especially if they’ve already had kids and are familiar with the process.
