Mother Who Avoided C-Section Gets Probation

Melissa Ann Rowland, the woman originally accused of killing one of her twins by failing to undergo a timely caesarean section, was sentenced to 18 months of probation for lesser counts of child endangerment.

“I think Miss Rowland has been one of those individuals who have fallen through the cracks her entire life,” said state court Judge Dennis M. Fuchs in Salt Lake City.

This month, prosecutors dropped a murder charge and Rowland pleaded guilty to two third-degree felony counts of child endangerment. She admitted using cocaine in the weeks before she had the C-section in January that produced a stillborn boy. The second child, a girl, survived and was adopted.