Rachel Bruns is a volunteer advocate for quality maternal health care in Iowa. This article originally appeared on the Des Moines Register’s website.

The Des Moines Register article “What Patients Should Know About Hospital Drug Testing” missed some key information that may help families disrupt the illegal maternal and newborn drug screening practices taking place at Iowa hospitals and clinics.

The U.S. Supreme Court made clear in 2001 (Ferguson v. Charleston) that prenatal drug testing without specific informed consent is unlawful. Nevertheless, some Iowa clinics and hospitals continue to conduct such tests, when urine is gathered for testing of urinary tract infections or to check urine glucose or protein levels. Such practices are not only unlawful, but also create mistrust of the medical system—putting the lives of moms and babies at risk. 

Iowa Code Chapter 232.77 outlines narrow criteria for drug testing of newborns without parental consent. According to state law, a practitioner must document “physical or behavioral symptoms of the effects of exposure to [illicit drugs]” in order to test a newborn without parental consent.

Instead of following Iowa code, many Iowa hospitals have implemented their own set of criteria for drug testing newborns without parental consent. Some of these criteria include: if the birthing person has been a victim of domestic violence, does not have custody of one or more children, has had an out of hospital birth or free birth, has suffered placental abruption, has physical attributes of abuse, or has had an unassisted birth. 

For the Donlin family, a false positive drug test on the umbilical cord led to a distressing eight-month ordeal with Iowa Child Protective Services. Having an unplanned, unassisted home birth is not a demonstration of “physical or behavioral symptoms” of drug use, as Iowa law requires, to justify testing the Donlin newborn without consent, nor is it following the Iowa Neonatal Quality Collaborative Guidelines for newborn assessment. 

Iowa hospitals and the state Department of Health and Human Services need to get their act together and stop unlawful drug testing of mothers and their newborns. Conducting such tests for reasons outside of federal law or state code is a violation of civil liberties that harms families, often results in discriminatory practices, and directs taxpayer resources away from the children and families who may actually need support and intervention. 

Top image of mother with newborn baby is by KieferPix, available via Shutterstock.