Church of the first born.
Date: September 26, 2005 05:05PM
PLEASE HELP US!!
kATHY LOU’S STORY
On August 18, 2005 I spoke with my sister, Kathryn Louise Capdeville or “Kathy Lou” as we called her. We talked of the usual things going on in our lives, like my doctor’s appointment, the kids starting school, and the upcoming arrival of her baby. I reminded her that she needed to call me as soon as she went into labor, because it would take me some time to get there. She promised me she would. That was the last time I would ever talk to my sister. She died August 21, 2005 at 11:20 a.m. in her home after giving birth to a beautiful baby girl, she was 26 years old.
Kathy Lou was raised in the Baptist Church. She was married in a Baptist Church to Joshua Capdeville on December 21, 1998. She had 2 beautiful children in Cushing Regional Hospital, Isabel Dianne 8 years old and Jeffery Edward 7 years old.
Joshua soon became a member of the Church of the First Born of Cushing, OK. Kathy, after speaking to her pastor about it, soon followed. Their family attended church regularly and soon Kathy Lou was pregnant again. This time she told our family of her intention to have the baby at home with a mid-wife from the Church. We were very worried about this decision, and reminded her that she could be held criminally liable if something were to happen. But, she assured us that everything would be okay. Kathy Lou was in labor a very short time and soon Dannielle Jean was born with no complications. The mid-wife was not present at her birth.
Soon after Danielle’s birth, Kathy Lou again became pregnant. Again the mid-wife was not present for the actual birth of Phillip Nathaniel. She arrived shortly after the birth, and was present to help deliver the afterbirth. I later learned that with that delivery Kathy Lou had complications. She hemorrhaged but they were able to stop the bleeding. I’ve also been told that the mid-wife told her she should not have any more children.
On August 20, 2005 at approximately 10:00 p.m. my sister Susan saw Kathy at her house. She asked her several times if she was okay, to which Kathy replied “yes.”
On August 21, 2005 at approximately 9:45 a.m. my brother, Jim was on his way to sit with my dad. He passed Kathy Lou’s house and noticed numerous cars parked in front. When Jim arrived at my dad’s he mentioned the cars at Kathy Lou’s and asked dad if they might have been having church there. My dad immediately knew the baby must have been born so he called Kathy Lou’s to find out and check on her. Kathy Lou’s sister-in-law answered the phone and told my father that the baby was born at 05:20 a.m. and she was a healthy baby girl. She told my father that Kathy was resting and could not be disturbed. My dad did not pursue this since it is common practice with the First Born to not allow anyone not affiliated with the church present for the birth or to see the baby for several days. At approximately 12:00 p.m. a member of my sister’s church told my sister-in-law that it had been announced at church that Kathy had passed away. My sister-in-law called my dad and informed him what she had heard. My dad then called the Cushing Police to find out what was going on.
To this day we, Kathy Lou’s family, have not gotten the full story about what happened. All we know is that Kathy had a baby girl at 05:20 a.m.. Kathy Lou never passed the afterbirth, and bleed to death. No family members were ever contacted before Kathy passed away. Kathy did believe in medicine and used ointments, creams, and liquid medicines in the presence of her family, but was adamant that Josh, her husband, not find out.
My sister believed that to disobey her husband was the biggest sin of all, and that is why she followed him to the Church of the First Born. She could not stand up to him or that Church. She died, because she had no voice. No one present to speak for her.
We have been told that Kathy was too tired to push the baby out, that someone had to get behind her and physically help push the baby out. We’ve been told that Kathy wouldn’t look at the baby after she was born, but that she breast fed 2 times. We’ve been told that right before she passed away she curled up into a fetal position and her husband thought she was going to be okay, but she began to choke, so he put a wooden spoon in her mouth to keep her from gagging. We were told that she didn’t want her family contacted until everything was okay, and that she was afraid that there would be problems between her husband and her family.
My sister saw my dad on a daily basis. They were close. She would have wanted him there if she knew she was dying. My sister also promised to make a call list and make sure that her Church knew her wishes. She wanted one of her sisters present. She would never willingly leave behind 5 children.
It is my wish that through all of this something good can happen, and that maybe my sister wouldn’t have died in vain. The first thing I’d like to change is the law of Oklahoma. As it is now, mid-wives don’t have to have any certification or training. I think that should change. I firmly believe that had Kathy’s mid-wife been better trained and felt that she would be responsible if something happened, then she either would have performed her duty, or she would have called 911. The second thing I would like to see done is the requirement of someone other that the church to respond. As it stands now, only church members are present when something like this happens. Had they called 911, an ambulance would have arrived, checked Kathy, and if she was in the condition to make the decision not to go to the hospital, she would have signed a refusal, and they would have been on their way. There were no other witnesses. No one knows what really happened in that house other than those responsible.
I know that my sister would not want any other family to go through what we have. She wouldn’t want another woman, who put her trust in her husband and Church, to lay there and bleed to death, because no one would help her.
Kathy Lou loved her husband and her family. She was full of life, and never lived a day for herself. Kathy was a woman of great faith, and I believe that she put all her faith and trust in that mid-wife, the Church and her husband and they failed her. They all watched, and knew that she would die if they failed to get her help. They stood by and watched her bleed to death.
My question, is who makes that decision? Why can a mid-wife hide behind her religious beliefs and not have to be responsible for their actions? Why aren’t they legally liable? It is absolutely criminal what members of the Church of the First Born did to my sister, and even more criminal what they are doing to her kids. They deprived them of their mother, and for that I hope God can forgive them, because in my eyes they are murderers!
It is our wish that through all of this something good can happen, and that maybe our sister won’t have died in vain. We have spoken to State Rep. Lee Denney and she is working on legislation named after Kathy, called Kathy’s Law, which will change the law in Oklahoma requiring mid-wives to be licensed and certified or trained.
If you are as outraged as we are, please help us pass a law requiring mid-wives to be licensed, trained and responsible for their actions by calling State Rep. Lee Denney at (405) 557-7304, Senator Patrick Anderson at 405-521-5830 and the Payne Co. District Attorney, Robert L. Hudson at 405-372-4883.
Please don’t let another woman die because she didn’t have a voice!
Kathryn Louise Capdeville
“Kathy Lou”
Beloved mother to Isabel 8, Jeffery 7, Dannielle 4, Phillip 3, & Kathryn newborn
We won’t forget, we love you, we miss you and we promise!!
Mom, Dad, Jim, Jeanne, Amanda, Susan & Billie Jean