Father takes baby from Castro Valley hospital
Henry K. Lee,Ellen Huet
Friday, February 17, 2012
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(02-17) 18:02 PST CASTRO VALLEY -- The father of a 2-day-old baby girl removed the infant from Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley Friday, and although no crime has occurred, Alameda County sheriff's deputies say they are concerned for her welfare.
Seagram Miller, 18, slipped the security bracelet off the wrist of his daughter, Sa'riah Miller before placing her in a car seat and driving away in a 1996 Ford Taurus about 1 p.m., said sheriff's Sgt. J.D. Nelson. The car has California license plate 6EUC277.
Miller took his daughter from the second-floor maternity ward before Sa'riah had been medically cleared by a pediatrician, officials said.
Both the baby and her 21-year-old mother were supposed to have been released Friday. officials said. The mother notified hospital staff of what happened, Nelson said.
"We are very sorry that this happened to this mother and baby," said hospital spokeswoman Cindy Dove. "As with any newborn, this baby needs to be with its mother."
The mother remains at the hospital.
Sheriff's officials are not treating the incident as an abduction, Nelson said.
"The mother does not feel that the baby is in any danger whatsoever at this point," Nelson said.
Nevertheless, "We're concerned about the baby's welfare. Although there's no indication that says there's any crime that's been committed, we do have a situation where we have a 2-day-old baby, who's normally breast fed, and is now with the father, who is obviously unable to breast feed that child," Nelson said.
He said, "That does not mean he can't feed the child with other methods, but at this point we'd like to get in contact with the father so that he can come forward and let us know, and we can get better care for the baby."
Henry K. Lee and Ellen Huet are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers.