UNNAMED NEWBORN - 1 day old (6/2014)/ Suspect: Mother; Michelle Renee Yallup - Butte MT

High on meth, woman gives birth, flees with child

June 19, 2014 2:25 pm  
By ANGELA BRANDT Montana Standard


]Michelle Renee Yallup

BUTTE — Police continue to look for a Butte woman who fled a hospital Wednesday after giving birth to a son while on methamphetamine.

Authorities have issued an arrest warrant for Michelle Renee Yallup, 29, on a charge of endangering the welfare of a child. Yallup was last seen at the Anaconda hospital at just about midnight Wednesday.

No leads on the whereabouts of Yallup or the child have surfaced. Anaconda Police Chief Tim Barkell said police searched her family’s homes in Great Falls and Belt with no signs of the two.

The baby is considered missing and endangered and Yallup a person of interest. Information on the disappearance has been sent statewide.

Yallup is brunette, 5-foot-6 and weighs about 120 pounds. Her baby has dark hair and eyes and weighs six pounds, 15 ounces.

Anyone with information is urged to call Anaconda police at 406-563-5241.

Hospital staff alerted police after Yallup, who gave her sister’s name, left the hospital with her baby against medical orders. Barkell said Yallup tested positive for meth when at the hospital. Staff contacted Child Protective Services as well.

Barkell said Yallup was allowed to walk down the hall with her baby, who was born Tuesday, and then left the hospital.

A description of the suspect vehicle was put out to authorities in the area. Butte police found the vehicle on Johns Avenue at about 12:40 a.m. Her sister, Megan Lynn Runstrom, was inside, but not the mother and child. After finding a shotgun in the car, police arrested Runstrom on a probation violation and felony unlawful possession of a firearm.

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/high-on-meth-woman-gives-birth-flees-with-child/article_84ef99da-ef9d-5725-b6e2-e813f07cd9a2.html#ixzz35g6S0o7t

Missing baby could be in serious danger

12 hours ago  •  By Angela Brandt

Doctor says babies exposed to drugs often require special treatment

St. James Healthcare sees an average of one pregnant mother per week suspected of illicit drug use, says a local pediatrician.

“That is certainly something we are seeing more frequently,” said Dr. Jessie Salisbury of St. James Healthcare.

After birth, the babies are often subject to withdrawal from the drugs. This could be right away or several days after the baby is born, depending on when the mother last used, what she took and how much she partook, Salisbury said.

It’s a startling fact on the minds of law enforcement officers in search of Michelle Renee Yallup, who tested positive to methamphetamine last week when she gave birth to a son and fled the Community Hospital of Anaconda with her hours-old baby. Authorities have not said how much of the drug was in Yallup’s system or how it may have impacted her newborn, known to police as “John Doe.”

A search for Yallup, who is wanted on an endangerment warrant, and her son continues nationwide. Police have received many tips, but none have led to the mother and child. Yallup, 29, was last seen early last Wednesday morning carrying the baby in a hospital hallway.

Signs of drug withdrawal in newborns are breathing problems, irritability, jitteriness and diarrhea, Salisbury said. Symptoms often mimic an infection.

“They act like they are not comfortable,” she said. “They act like they suffer.”

Doctors can medicate babies born addicted to drugs to help ease discomfort. Salisbury said those medications are given for about a month, generally on an out-patient basis.

“If the parent is not making good decisions, the baby may need to be in the hospital,” she said.

“Sometimes the parent is so caught up in their lifestyle and addiction that they’re not making good decisions.”

Yallup is brunette, 5-foot-6 and weighs about 120 pounds. Her baby has dark hair and eyes and weighs six pounds, 15 ounces.

Details on the baby’s health at the time of birth have not been released. But, he is considered “endangered.”

Shortly after her disappearance, a judge issued an arrest warrant for Yallup on a felony charge of endangering the welfare of a child.

Authorities have searched her relatives’ homes with no signs of the mother or baby, but they have enough evidence to speculate Yallup may have been assisted by two people.

Butte-Silver Bow Sheriff Ed Lester said the case remains a priority. He also said this incident might help to close loopholes in the system to prevent similar situations.

The hospital has declined to discuss its security policies.

Child Protective Services had been alerted after Yallup tested positive for meth at the hospital. At the time of her disappearance, Yallup remained the custodial parent.

Salisbury said in some cases state protection officials are contacted prior to the birth if drug use has put the unborn baby at risk. The circumstances surrounding potential removal of the baby from a parent is evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Child Protective Services in Butte directed questions to a state Department of Health and Human Services spokesman who was not available Tuesday afternoon.

Officials have said Yallup took her baby from the hospital against medical advice.

Salisbury said a healthy infant with no significant risk stays hospitalized for at least the first full day. If there are concerning issues, the baby will stay for 48 hours. The baby’s vitals are watched for potential development of congenital heart disease or various infections.

After 24 hours, the newborn’s oxygen saturation is checked and a metabolic screen is conducted before the mother can take the baby home, she said. Hospital staff also considers whether the infant can hear appropriately, has urinated and defecated and whether it has physical anomalies.

Medical research has yet to show the exact effects of long-term exposure to baby’s born to meth-using mothers, Salisbury said. She expects the child may face learning and development issues.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse echoes Salisbury’s statements.

“Our knowledge of the effects of methamphetamine abuse during pregnancy is limited because studies of this issue have used small samples and have not been able to account for the possibility that mothers used other drugs besides methamphetamine,” the institute says on its website, adding it is working on a large-scale study on the developmental outcomes in children born to mothers who abused meth.

“Thus far, researchers have found neurobehavioral problems such as decreased arousal and increased stress and subtle but significant attention impairments in these children.

http://mtstandard.com/news/local/missing-baby-could-be-in-serious-danger/article_c9dbf8d0-fc1d-11e3-b6a6-0019bb2963f4.html