Pregnant Legally Blind-Mentally Disabled Woman...?

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]Hello ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of Nurse Cast. Today we are actually going to discuss a pretty difficult topic.

[00:00:10]So first and foremost, what I would like to dive into first is what a cryptic pregnancy is. Let's just listen to the definition. Let's not assume that this is going in a certain direction. Let's start with a little bit of education.

[00:00:26]That's very simple, very straightforward. A cryptic pregnancy is often categorized or characterized by no symptoms of pregnancy at all. The only time you know you're pregnant is when you go into labor. And I understand how dramatic that sounds, but you take a pregnancy test negative. You still have your period. You don't have any cravings. You're going about life in a very normal, ordinary way for a woman that isn't thinking about the fact that she's growing a child because your body is giving you all indication that you're not pregnant.

[00:01:09]That's why it's cryptic. That's why it is called a cryptic pregnancy because you're completely unaware. You're not showing. You're not presenting with any symptoms. I just want that to be abundantly clear. Now, let's tie that information into the unfortunate situation where a 24year-old young woman, Cameron Jones, is concerned.

[00:01:34]Cameron Jones is legally blind. She has the mental capacity of a toddler. And this is the information that was provided by caregivers, family members.

[00:01:44]This isn't just information that I'm just tugging and just deciding to present in a way that I decide. This is how I've interpreted the information that was presented to the public.

[00:01:58]So legally blind, the mental capacity of a toddler and unfortunately doesn't have the ability to do certain activities that you and I can do. Simply put, I'm emphasizing her state or the way in which she lives her life so that we can make it abundantly clear that her becoming pregnant was not a decision of her own.

[00:02:37]There are a few things that I would like to address. First and foremost, the reason why I brought up a cryptic pregnancy before bringing up this situation is because Cameron's belly was swollen.

[00:02:55]She was brought into the ER for a change in behavior, scrapes and bruises on her knees, and a swollen and growing belly.

[00:03:12]There is only one way to look at this.

[00:03:16]It again the information that was presented was that Cameron requires two caregivers at all times. Now remember I explained that Cameron has the mental capacity of a toddler. Would you ever leave a toddler alone? No.

[00:03:32]No. And that is how we have to look at the situation. Cameron cannot be left alone. She cannot care for herself. So you're what I'm getting to here is that there are several systems that failed Cameron.

[00:03:48]Failed Cameron being a registered nurse and having worked in the ER myself, these are the things that we see consistently.

[00:04:03]We are the first to hear the full story.

[00:04:07]And I say story because information is not always presented as it actually took place as the situation, the circumstance actually took place. And as a nurse, you have to learn very quickly how to weed out information to get to the truth.

[00:04:24]All of that being said, I am having a hard time believing that the systems that were set in place to protect Cameron were unaware of what took place, when it took place, and how it took place. I have to be very careful about my words, so I need you guys to just follow.

[00:04:44]Two caregivers at a time, at all times, is a necessity for Cameron to lead as normal of a life as she possibly can with the things that she's dealing with.

[00:05:02]And somehow she was still able to become pregnant.

[00:05:10]I just need us all to take a minute here and let that sink in.

[00:05:16]Cameron cannot advocate for herself.

[00:05:20]She cannot.

[00:05:22]Cameron cannot come out and say, "Hey, look, something's wrong. I'm feeling a little bit off.

[00:05:29]Something's not right."

[00:05:34]She is completely dependent on this team that has been set in place to keep her safe and they failed her.

[00:05:43]So there were a slew of arguments when this information first came out because you know social media is the first place that a lot of information comes out nowadays. And it seemed like on a few different platforms there were a number of comments indicating that there is such a thing as a cryptic pregnancy.

[00:06:04]And that is precisely the reason why I wanted to start this video by explaining what a cryptic pregnancy is.

[00:06:14]You do not know. You do not typically know until the time comes to give birth.

[00:06:26]I have had a number of experiences as a nurse where a woman would come into the ER and she'd be complaining of symptoms that really don't have anything to do with pregnancy. And the very first time one of the doctors that I worked with said, "Let her take a pregnancy test."

[00:06:47]I just felt like none of the information that that patient provided should have led to the doctor saying, "Let her take a pregnancy test."

[00:06:57]Not at all.

[00:06:59]She takes the test. We also draw her labs.

[00:07:04]Everything comes back positive.

[00:07:06]Everybody is shookth. Her complaint was shoulder pain that came out of nowhere.

[00:07:15]That was her complaint.

[00:07:20]I just need us all to understand that experience forces you to make certain decisions that don't always make a whole lot of sense.

[00:07:33]And unfortunately, it's because you've had to experience a slew of unfortunate things leading up to making this decision.

[00:07:43]When I asked the doctor to please allow me to get inside of her head and understand what the decision-making process was. And what she said was, "Unfortunately, I've had to care for a lot of pregnant disabled women."

[00:08:08]And sometimes the information that the caregiver provides is deliberately meant to derail the direction that I would have went in had they provided me with the correct information.

[00:08:22]You have to learn quickly how to deduce, how to weed out certain pieces of information. How to read the room, how to read the the patient, how to read the caregiver to know what to do next and how to educate them in such a way so as to not make them privy to the fact that you're on to them and that you have in fact started an investigation.

[00:08:49]That sucks.

[00:08:52]Simply put, I don't want to dump a bunch of fancy and incredulous words. I don't even feel like incredulous was the appropriate word to use in this circumstance on how unfortunate it is to have to accept and acknowledge something like that in order to move through your career in a way that makes you successful and in a way that allows for you to advocate for a community that is unfortunately often dismissed because of their disability.

[00:09:23]It is sad. And so I'm putting out this video in hopes to shed light on the situation, especially to new nurses, new doctors, new health care professionals.

[00:09:39]Trust your gut. Trust your instinct.

[00:09:43]Don't make anyone or don't allow anyone to make you feel strange for wanting to advocate for someone. And it takes time.

[00:09:52]It will always anything that you need to get good at will take time.

[00:10:00]So take every opportunity to learn even if it is in an unfortunate circumstance such as this so that you can take that information and help the next person so that they don't land in such an unfortunate circumstance because this is drastically unfortunate for every individual involved.

[00:10:23]So many systems failed Cameron.

[00:10:28]So many So, I want us to all understand what it means to have a cryptic pregnancy. I want us to all take into consideration that unfortunately there is a large number of individuals in the mentally disabled community whose symptoms or behaviors that are outside of what's characteristically normal for them that they they get dismissed because of their mental capacity.

[00:11:05]It's important that we start taking these things into consideration, especially working in healthcare.

[00:11:12]Sometimes the assessment skills that you learn in nursing school isn't enough to help you get through a situation such as this.

[00:11:21]So, I do hope that Cameron gets the love, the care, the attention that she needs to get through this very confusing time because I'm sure she's confused. I'm sure she's incredibly unaware of what's going on. And I will keep her family in her thoughts and I hope that she has a new set of caregivers on board.

[00:11:46]And I hope that there is room in this situation for there to be a more positive outcome.

[00:11:54]So ladies and gentlemen, that is quite a heavy video. Um, I will do my best to continue shedding light on such, you know, unfortunate circumstances and I will continue to do my best to use my platform to to do that.

[00:12:14]All of that being said, I don't want to send us out on such a sad and and heavy note. I do have graphic novels out and I am working on creating a nurse comic series.

[00:12:26]So, all of the progress and the details and the developments and the production of that project, all of the above, they're all on my subscription channel here on YouTube. So, subscribe and um my Patreon and uh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm really excited and I hope you guys are too. Thank you so much for sitting in and listening to this heavy topic.

[00:12:59]Hopefully, I gave you guys a strong enough warning coming into this. Let me know how you guys feel. I always want to see your your comments and your thoughts.

[00:13:08]Thanks guys.