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SAINT CHARLES, Mo., Dec 21, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A woman was arrested in Joliet, Ill., for involuntary manslaughter after giving birth while intoxicated, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Thursday.
Sherri Lohnstein, 33, gave birth to a baby girl on Sept. 9 at St. Joseph Hospital West in Lake Saint Louis. Despite repeated warnings from her doctor about drinking, she drank through her pregnancy and before she went into labor.
The baby died shortly after being born. The infant weighed 2 pounds at birth. The St. Charles County, Mo., medical examiner gave the baby's cause of death as acute intoxication.
Lohnstein reportedly told police, "I don't know why, but I should not have drank."
The National Advocates for Pregnant Women in New York told the Post-Dispatch that hundreds of women have been arrested in the last 20 years for allegedly drinking to excess while pregnant. The group claims such drinking amounts to neglect or abuse.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
