INDIANOLA, Iowa — Two Indianola parents face charges of child endangerment resulting in death after their newborn died hours after birth on June 15, according to the Indianola Police Department.
The Warren County Attorney's office brought the charges against Amber Nicole Phillips, 31, and Gregory Burton Rodee, 29, both of Indianola.
What happened leading up to the newborn's death
Criminal complaints against both Phillips and Rodee say Indianola first responders were dispatched to the couple's home at 105 1/2 S. Howard Street shortly after 10 p.m. on June 14 for a newborn baby that wasn't breathing.
During the 911 call, Rodee identified himself as the father and said the couple didn't want the baby taken to the hospital, according to a complaint.
Once first responders arrived, the couple refused medical treatment and transportation for the newborn, who was just 20 minutes old.
Complaints say the couple signed a form refusing treatment.
Phillips told the medics that she wanted to have a home birth. The couple attempted to feed the baby via breast and bottle, but they were unsuccessful.
Court documents state the couple placed the baby in a pack-n-play at around 5:30 a.m. the next day.
At approximately 6:55 a.m., they woke to find that the baby wasn't breathing. Both parents had been sleeping for about an hour and a half.
The couple called 911 again. Medics were unable to help the baby breathe again, resulting in the baby's death.
Autopsy revealed treatments for drug addiction in baby's system
Phillips was prescribed Subutex (burenorphine) during her pregnancy for her past heroin addiction. The criminal complaint says she told officials that she didn't have any other prescriptions and wasn't taking any other medications.
Phillips was concerned how her baby would react to her Subutex prescription, and allegedly said breast feeding would be "a huge help" to the baby when weening off the drug, according to the complaint.
The complaint states Phillips knew the baby could be dependent on the drug.
An autopsy revealed a presence of burenorphine as well as methadone in the toxicology analysis. Methadone is used to treat moderate to severe pain as well as drug addiction.
The toxicology report stated the following:
"The concentrations of methadone and buprenorphine and presence of their metabolites are consistent with maintenance dosing for treatment of opiate addiction in adults. Methadone and buprenorphine have respiratory depression effects, which likely contributed to the respiratory failure from respiratory distress syndrome."
The criminal complaint says Phillips' medical records showed positive drug screen results for both of those drugs on May 1, May 5 and June 2. There were no records of drug screens completed between June 3 and the day the baby was born.
"She was not prescribed Methadone and did not disclose to medical personal that she had been taking it illicitly prior to the birth," a complaint reads.
First child had similar symptoms
The complaint reveals that the couple already have a child that was born in January 2019.
That child was born in a hospital and transferred to a newborn intensive care unit (NICU) with respiratory distress. The baby was diagnosed with neonatal withdrawal symptoms from maternal use of drugs of addiction, respiratory failure of newborn and feeding problem of newborn.
Phillips' drug screen tested positive for Klonopin, which was determined that she had been taking illicitly, along with Xanax.
The criminal complaint says Phillips disclosed the information to staff on her own.
Both Phillips and Rodee are in custody and charged with a single count each of Child Endangerment Resulting in Death.
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