A Cornwall woman whose cries for help during childbirth were ignored by jail guards has been reunited with her newborn son.
Julie Bilotta was granted bail in Cornwall court Thursday afternoon, almost three weeks after she gave birth at the Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre with no help from doctors until her baby started to emerge.
Bilotta will stay with baby Gionni Lee Garlow at Ottawa’s J.F. Norwood House, where she will be under 24/7 supervision and a curfew between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
"It's the worst thing that could ever happen, I feel like I've been robbed of every special moment," she said after the hearing. "The only time I've held my son is in the ambulance on the way to the hospital."
She’ll also undergo drug treatment and parenting counselling while at the transitional living centre, as she’s facing several drug and fraud charges.
Bilotta’s treatment by jail staff prompted a protest by about three dozen mothers and their babies outside Correctional Services Minister Madeleine Meilleur’s Ottawa office on Wednesday.
With a report from CTV Ottawa’s John Hua
