Mother serving 2-week sentence claims prison staff made her give birth on jail floor

A mother in Michigan claims she was forced to deliver her baby on a mat inside of a jail cell after staff refused to call an ambulance.

According to the time stamp on Macomb County Jail’s surveillance video, Jessica Preston gave birth to her son Elijah on March 20, 2016.

“He’s beautiful and amazing, and I wouldn’t trade him for the world, but it is a constant reminder every time I see him, I can remember how awful it was to feel that way, to be treated like you don’t matter, don’t exist,” Preston said to NBC affiliate, WDIV news.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "He's beautiful and amazing, and I wouldn't trade him for the world, but it is a constant reminder every time I see him, I can remember how awful it was to feel that way, to be treated like you don't matter, don't exist," Preston said to NBC affiliate, <a href="http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/defenders/woman-describes-being-forced-to-give-birth-on-filthy-cell-floor-at-macomb-county-jail" target="_blank">WDIV</a> news.

In the footage, it shows a person on a mat surrounded by at least five other people.

Later on in the video, it shows Preston being led out of the prison on a stretcher.

It all began five days before when Preston was pulled over for having a rosary in her rearview mirror which caused “an obstruction of view,” WDIV wrote.

Even though Preston said she wasn’t speeding or “driving recklessly” she was still driving with a suspended license.

A judge set Preston’s bond at $10,000 and order her to serve 14 days in jail.

WDIV claimed Preston was given that sentence not only because of the rosary and driving with a suspended license but because of other past charges, including drug abuse and outstanding warrants.

The judge reportedly believed it would be “in the baby’s and mother’s best interest to be locked up” and expected that if Preston went into labour, she would be taken to hospital.

Instead, Preston gave birth on a mat.

“I’m just in total shock, I can’t believe I just had my son – a month early – on a dirty, jail cell floor,” Preston said to WDIV.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I'm just in total shock, I can't believe I just had my son - a month early - on a dirty, jail cell floor," Preston said to WDIV.

CBS News even reported that Preston asked to be taken to the to the infirmary multiple times, however, staff told her to “stop lying” or else they’d “put another charge” on her.

A doctor, who is an expert in jail medical cases, told WDIV that having a baby inside of a cell can lead to complications.

“It opens the risk to infections, whether it’s the baby, or it’s the mother,” Dr. Frank McGeorge said to WDIV. “There’s always the risk that there could be some difficult breathing. Maybe the baby has some kind of congenital problem…we don’t know.”

After Preston gave birth to Elijah and both were taken to hospital, Preston had to return to jail two and a half days later to serve out her remaining sentence while the baby went home with his father.

“It was horrible being separated from my baby. I wasn’t able to breastfeed, and he was so tiny, he was so little when he was first born…it was agonizing,” Preston told WDIV.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It was horrible being separated from my baby. I wasn't able to breastfeed, and he was so tiny, he was so little when he was first born…it was agonizing," Preston told WDIV.

Even though Elijah was born a month early and weighed less than five pounds, he’s reportedly in good condition.

Preston said she’s sharing her story in hopes that every inmate, no matter why they’re incarcerated, gets proper treatment during a medical emergency.

WDIV wrote Sheriff Anthony Wickersham believed “his jail staff was 100 per cent correct in how they handled the case.”

Global News has reached out to the jail and sheriff’s office.

Follow @alleywilson_