Pottstown Couple Who Took Baby From LVH Get Probation, Reports Say

A Pottstown couple who took their premature baby out of Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest last December against physician's orders pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of endangering the welfare of a child, according to report in The Morning Call. 

The report said April Saul, 43, and Daniel Rivera, 44, were given sentences of two years' probation by Lehigh County Judge Maria L. Dantos. Disorderly conduct charges were dropped as a result of the plea, the report said.

Saul spoke out about the case in Dec. 2012, stating she and her husband decided to remove their daughter only after Lehigh Valley Hospital staff refused their repeated requests to have the child sent to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

According to a 2012 Salisbury Township Police release:

* Saul and Rivera's daughter was born prematurely on July 18, 2012 and had "serious medical issues." She was in the Lehigh Valley Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

* Because of the baby’s condition, her heartbeat, breathing and temperature had to be continually monitored. The baby needed to remain in the NICU until she met minimum requirements set by medical personnel for discharge from the unit and hospital.

* The parents were required to attend educational instruction on the special care that the baby would need outside of a hospital setting.

* When the parents removed their daughter from the hospital, they had not yet met the minimum requirements for her discharge and the medical requirements for the baby's discharge had not yet been met.

* The parents removed the infant from monitoring equipment and her crib on Oct. 23 without medical training or permission. They tried to leave the NICU. When questioned by medical personnel, they yelled loudly and used obscene language in the common area of the NICU. Nursing staff repeatedly asked the parents not to remove the baby from the unit because the baby’s health could be endangered.

* The attending physician also asked the parents not to remove the baby, and the parents continued to yell, use obscene language and insist that they were leaving the unit. 

* The parents took the baby from the hospital against medical advice and said they wanted to take the baby to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

* Police stopped Saul and Rivera, who had the baby with them, in a vehicle at Seventh and Hamilton streets in Allentown.

* When the baby was returned to the hospital, she had a temperature of 96.5 degrees, which medical personnel said was life-threatening because of her medical condition.