Mom says holistic lifestyle led to newborn twins being taken away from her

CINCINNATI (WXIX/Gray News) - A Cincinnati mother of seven says she is still fighting to get back full custody of her kids after her decision to not put her newborn twins on baby formula resulted in an order being issued for the removal of her kids.

Lasha Cauthen says she was breastfeeding one of her newborn twins on Feb. 10 when Cincinnati police officers came into her hospital room to take her into custody. What happened inside the hospital room started with a routine doctor’s appointment 10 days prior, the mother claims.

“Jan. 31, I took my 10-day-old twins to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to establish care with a primary care provider,” Cauthen told WXIX.

The mother says during the start of the visit, everything went well, and the doctor said her babies looked healthy. But then, Cauthen says the visit quickly became uncomfortable.

“She began speaking with me because I am holistic,” Cauthen said. “I don’t get vaccinations. We don’t vaccinate. We don’t use any modern medications unless necessary.”

After the conversation, Cauthen claims the doctor stated that she was concerned about her twins’ weight. When it came time to leave the appointment, the doctor suggested admitting her twins to the hospital to be watched, the mother says.

“I declined, and I explained to her that I don’t have to. They are my children, and you will be violating my rights if you force that upon me,” Cauthen said. “She said, ‘I’ll give you an option of coming back in a few days to be weighed.’ I told her, ‘I have a scale, and I will do it on my own by myself.’ Like, you can’t tell me what to do. She automatically felt threatened, I guess in that sense, and she decided to threaten me with Child Protective Services.”

Court records show a report was filed to Hamilton County Job and Family Services that same day for concern of “failure to thrive.”

Cauthen’s baby girl weighed 6.8 pounds at birth and was discharged at 6.3 pounds, according to court records. The documents state that during the 10-day check-up, the baby girl weighed 5.8 pounds. That is a 13% drop in birth weight.

Her baby boy weighed 7 pounds at birth and was discharged at 6.7 pounds, the court records show. Those records state that during the baby boy’s 10-day check-up, his weight dropped by 16%, as he weighed 5.9 pounds.

Court documents also report that Cauthen “refused a lactation consult.”

The mother of seven says she started working with a certified lactation consultant three days after the doctor’s visit at Children’s Hospital.

“[Cauthen] texted me on Feb. 2,” certified lactation consultant Wendy McHale told WXIX. “[She] said that her babies were having trouble gaining weight and that she needed some breastfeeding support.”

McHale says she immediately began working with Cauthen and was able to help with breastfeeding. She says in three days, she saw improvements with both babies gaining weight.

“Baby boy was now up to 6 pounds, 1.2 ounces,” McHale said. “So, baby boy had gained in total in the three days now 4.2 ounces.”

Cauthen’s newborn girl gained 0.7 ounces in three days, according to McHale.

McHale says she was in contact with Cauthen’s caseworker to let her know the babies were gaining weight and appeared to be healthy.

“She did say multiple times that I’m not a pediatrician, which I agreed with her, but if we were concerned about weight gain, I can definitely do weight checks,” said McHale of the conversation she had with the caseworker. “She knew that there was a weight check scheduled for Wednesday, and that’s what we all were hoping for. Sadly, mom and babies couldn’t make that one, so she rescheduled for Thursday. She ended up, as often you are with newborns, late for the appointment, and by the time she got there, sadly, the certified nurse practitioner had already left the office for the day.”

Cauthen says later that night on Feb. 9, she got a phone call from JFS, saying an order had been issued to remove her children from her home.

“So, we go ahead, and I tell her I’ll meet you at the hospital now with my babies,” Cauthen said. “My babies had indeed gained weight. Yet the doctors still say, ‘Well, no, we want them to gain even more weight. We want to put them on a formula,’ which I’m against. We are a vegan household. My babies, my pregnancy was a vegan pregnancy, and everything came out healthy babies.”

She spent the next six hours in the hospital as doctors met with Job and Family Services.

“Then, I get a phone call from one of my children’s fathers stating that they had been contacted from Child Protective Services, stating that they were going to take the rest of my children as well,” Cauthen said. “So, I’m distraught here in this moment. I’m not understanding what is going on. I don’t even understand how they’re legally able to kidnap our children.”

The mother said her children are her life, and the thought of losing them is unbearable.

Cauthen said after being distraught at the thought of losing her children, she called the 988-crisis hotline from the hospital room, saying she couldn’t live without her children.

“I’m like, ‘but I just need to get these thoughts out,’” Cauthen said. “I need somebody to speak to. So, I’m talking to this person, and he asked me like, ‘Do you own a gun?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, like I have a gun.’ Like, I do have a gun. ‘But where is it?’ I’m like, ‘It’s in my car.’ I’m talking to this person casually, as I am with you. And I’m just like, you know, I just need somebody to talk to, just get this off my chest. So, we’re on the phone for maybe like 45 minutes or so.”

She felt better after calling the hotline, but that quickly changed when she was greeted by several Cincinnati police officers in her hospital room.

Court records state that Cincinnati Children’s Hospital was placed on lockdown after Cauthen called the suicide hotline with claims that she was going to kill herself.

Below is part of that interaction between the police and Cauthen.

Police: “You called 911 from the parking garage. You called the helpline. The crisis hotline.”

Cauthen: “I did, yes.”

Police: “So, that’s concerning to us.”

Cauthen: “There’s nothing in there.”

Police: “The stuff is in your car. Ma’am, we need you to set the baby down. You need to come out and talk to us, OK?”

As she placed the baby down and stepped out of the hospital room, body camera video from the officers shows Cauthen being handcuffed. She was taken into custody for a mental health evaluation, which documents show she passed and was cleared in less than 12 hours.

For six months, Cauthen says she was not allowed to see six of her children.

WXIX reached out to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and the Hamilton County Division of Family Services. Both said they could not comment on the case.

Attempts to receive the juvenile court’s records were denied because the court said the documents were sealed for the children’s safety.

After several court delays, WXIX came to a hearing on May 30, where an amended complaint against Cauthen was released. It cited concerns over Cauthen’s mental health.

The other claims in the reports state that during visitation, Cauthen discussed inappropriate topics with her children, along with showing up at her children’s school demanding visitation.

Cauthen denies the complaints filed against her. She says the conversation that she had with her children that was considered inappropriate involved why her children were being separated from their mother.

Cauthen said she also doesn’t understand why the complaints suddenly surfaced four months after her children were taken.

“It’s like human trafficking. That’s what this is because when they put my newborns in foster care, they assumed I was not going to fight because most women don’t fight,” Cauthen said. “This is the hardest thing a mother could go through is having their children stripped from them without cause and not be able to speak on their own behalf.”

It has been 10 months since Cauthen was handcuffed and removed from the hospital room at Cincinnati Children’s.

Cauthen said she still has not been able to get full custody of her six children and is only allowed supervised visitation.

The next court hearing is scheduled for Dec. 20.