Newspaper articles about Yvonne's trial.
June 23, 2001
Northwest
Herald Editorial
Opinion, Saturday, June 23, 2001, page 18
OUR
VIEW
It's
time to end case vs. Cryns
Perhaps the time has come to end the legal wrangling over midwife Yvonne Cryns.
The Richmond woman has tried on criminal charges for her actions that may or may not have contributed to the death of an infant.
A trial produced an acquittal on one charge against her. The jury was deadlocked on another charge against her before a judge declared a mistrial.
Both the Lake County State's Attorney office, which prosecuted the case, and supporters of Cryns are talking about the possibility of a plea deal. This seems like the best solution to this tragedy
Cryns certainly is guilty of poor judgment in the death of Spencer Verzi, who died Aug. 19, 2000, during child birth, or shortly after, depending on whom you believe. His difficult birth - he was a foot-first breech baby- presented a medically complicated situation that Cryns might have more wisely deferred to a doctor.
But do her actions constitute involuntary manslaughter? The state's attorney believes they do. But when the parents of Spencer Verzi do not hold Cryns responsible for his death, then it is asking a lot to expect 12 jurors who will.
The judge who would hear a retrial has three murder cases awaiting his attention. There is a strong possibility that the entire matter could be pushed back many months. A plea deal could expeditiously end this unfortunate incident.
The trial of Yvonne Cryns opened the eyes of many on the subject of midwifery, and specifically the few laws and regulations required in Illinois to participate in the birthing process. A midwife bill in the Illinois General Assembly never got out of committee this spring. Maybe the publicity from this case can spur some guidelines for Illinois midwives, and something positive can come from this tragic case.
June 18, 2001
Midwife thanks supporters, asks state to
begin licensing
By Mick Zawislak Daily Herald Staff Writer
The chatter of restless children, many of them born at home, provided
the background Saturday for a call for state licensing of midwives.
Supporters of Yvonne Cryns, perhaps the best-known midwife in Illinois
following her recent Lake County trial on involuntary manslaughter
charges in connection with the death last summer of newborn Spencer
Verzi, also contended the courtroom was not the place to settle such
issues and demanded authorities drop any further proceedings.
"This trial has brought to the forefront the fact that families
do choose to have their babies at home," said Melissa Smith, a
midwife
from Menomonee, Wis. "I would plead with the prosecutors to please
listen to public opinion."
Supporters claimed the state has spent $2 million pursuing the case
against Cryns, who was supported during the trial by the parents of
Spencer Verzi.
Smith was among several speakers, including Cryns and her 22-year-old
son, Toby, who spoke during a press conference in the basement of
the Greater St. James Church of God in Christ in North Chicago.
They stressed the safety of home births and the need for licensing
for Certified Professional Midwives, to provide a professional review
when problems arise. Supporters claimed that 2,000 Illinois residents
choose home birth each year and that the risk of a baby dying during
a breech birth at home with a midwife is the same as at a hospital.
"This should not be in the criminal system," said Algonquin
resident
Michelle Breen, a consumer advocate and board member of Illinois Families
for Midwives. "You can't look at an individual case when you're
talking
about safety."
After receiving a round of applause and a standing ovation from
the small crowd, Cryns spoke briefly but refused to discuss her case
on advice of lawyers.
"This is a horrible thing for someone to go through," she said.
"This isn't over yet."
Instead, she acknowledged the "hundreds and hundreds" of letters
and calls of support she has received from all over the world, including
Australia, France, Germany and Mexico.
"I appreciate everything everyone has done and I love you all,"
said the 50-year-old Richmond woman, whose case has focused attention
on home births and the practice of midwifery.
Supporters sold T-shirts ($6 for kids, $8 for adults) and videos
($25) with proceeds to Cryns' defense fund. Husband Greg Cryns said
later the family had spent "a fortune" on the case but would not
comment
further. He described his wife as a "strong woman" who
"spent many
years studying to be a midwife."
Jurors considered the charges against Cryns for 36 hours over four
days, in one of the longest deliberations in Lake County history.
She was acquitted of involuntary manslaughter to an unborn child but
the jury deadlocked on a second charge of involuntary manslaughter.
Lake County prosecutors have maintained the case is about a single
action that resulted in the death of a child and not general practice
of midwifery. Prosecutors previously indicated they would pursue another
trial on the second charge but were not available for comment Saturday.
A status hearing is scheduled for Thursday and a new trial date may
be set.
The case has generated continued publicity for direct entry midwives,
so called because practitioners begin their work without a nursing
degree. Unofficial estimates put the number of such midwives, who
are not licensed by the state, at about a dozen.
Illinois does license advanced practice nurses, with about 250 holding
a midwife specialty requiring a master's degree and special training.
The state issues cease and desist orders against the others and will
continue to do so unless or until state laws are changed, according
to Tony Sanders, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Professional
Regulation.
That practice has thinned the ranks of available midwives, supporters
of licensing say.
"We have researched it so much. It's very condescending of those
who are against direct entry midwives to think we haven't made an
educated decision," said Lesa Alexander Bentley, whose daughter
Marsden,
nearly 4, was born at their Waukegan home.
Bentley is pregnant and due in September. She her husband, Chris,
who works for an investment management firm and is the son of a doctor,
said their third child also will be born at home.
"Things go wrong at hospitals," said Chris Bentley. "For a
low-risk
pregnancies, the best outcomes are achieved with midwives attending,
rather than doctors in attendance."
June 17, 2001
Second trial for midwife on hold
Second trial for midwife on hold for now
By Tony Gordon Daily Herald Legal Affairs Writer
It could be fall before a Richmond midwife charged with involuntary
manslaughter faces her second trial in Lake County Circuit Court,
officials said Thursday.
A mistrial was declared when a jury in the case of Yvonne Cryns, 50,
deadlocked June 4 after one of the longest jury deliberations in Lake
County history.
Cryns was found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter to an unborn child
for her actions in the Aug. 19, 2000, birth of Spencer Verzi in his
parents' Round Lake Beach home.
Prosecutors immediately announced their intention to hold a second trial,
but Circuit Judge James Booras told parties on both sides of the case he
has a number of other serious matters already scheduled.
"I have a murder case with two defendants and two attempted murder
trials that are scheduled for this summer," Booras said. "As a
practical matter, I do not see this case proceeding until August or
September."
Defense attorney James Harrison concurred, saying after the short hearing
that he did not see much potential for August.
"I think we are looking at the fall," Harrison said. "The
judge
has a very full work load at this point, and we are simply going to have
to wait our turn."
He left open the door to a resolution of the case through a plea
agreement, although he said there have been no discussions with
prosecutors along those lines.
"A resolution is always possible but we are only half the
equation," Harrison said. "No offer has been tendered, but we
are always willing to listen."
Assistant State's Attorney Claudia Kasten declined to comment on the
possibility of a plea arrangement with Cryns.
Cryns remains free on the $5,000 bond she posted after her arrest, and
Booras scheduled another conference with the attorneys for July 19.
Midwives deserve state certification
June 11, 2001
All of us are born. Despite the universality of that human experience, there is a surprisingly wide range of opinion on what exactly the birth process is supposed to be. At one end is the extreme medical view--birth is something that happens inside hospitals, almost as if it were a disease, requiring lots of doctors and specialized equipment. On the other, the extreme naturalist view--birth is something that takes place at home, easily and naturally, requiring only a few towels and, perhaps, some patchouli incense and a tape of whale songs. Both views have drawbacks. Hospitals are expensive, germ-filled and prone to technology; studies show that doctors can be over-eager to perform procedures, such as unnecessary Caesarian sections. Naturalists, in praising the benefits of giving birth behind a haystack, usually overlook that in centuries past Mother Nature saw to it that more mothers and babies died in childbirth than do so today.
Luckily, there is no need to suffer either extreme. Hospitals, eager to attract expecting mothers, have been aggressive in creating warm, homey birthing centers, places like the Women's Center at Evanston Hospital. And the naturalists have tried to bring a measure of order and oversight to the profession of midwifery. Half the states in the union certify lay midwives--meaning professionals who are not nurses, but who are skilled in the delivery of babies.
Illinois isn't one of them. Lay midwives here work in a legal limbo, which makes them difficult to find and evaluate. The lesson behind the case of Yvonne Cryns--whose trial for manslaughter ended in a hung jury--is not that every woman should give birth in a hospital, though that is the safest practice and the one most families choose. But doctors can make disastrous blunders, too. But there are many doctors, and ways to evaluate who is a good one and who is not. Because midwifery is practically an underground profession, women feel grateful just to find a midwife, never mind a good one. This has to change. The state should recognize the profession and develop criteria for certifying midwives, including the requirement that expectant women be aware of the risks, as well as the benefits, of giving birth outside the medical system.
Over the last 40 years, smoking rates have fallen from nearly half the adult population to just under a quarter. The reason is clear: mounting medical evidence that smoking is deadly. No serious person debates this. Today many children are so indoctrinated against smoking that they not only see it as a health risk, but as a moral evil. Not only is grandma going to die if she smokes, but she's ''bad'' as well. So it is hard to believe that there are adults who think that smoking is not only cool, it's safe.
But a foolish California jury just handed a $3 billion judgment against Philip Morris to such a man--Richard Boeken, 56, a lung cancer sufferer, whose lawyer persuaded them that his client had been gulled by the cigarette industry into a false sense of security. While legal experts say the astronomical figure will be reduced, if not set aside, this huge sum only vindicates risky behavior by someone who should have known better. Boeken at one time also had a heroin problem. Whom does he blame for that? Better yet, whom should he sue?
Copyright � The
Sun-Times Company
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast,
rewritten, or redistributed.
Cryns silent, but supporters vocal
By KEVIN P. CRAVER
The Northwest Herald
But while Cryns, 50, was the guest of honor and received a 30-second standing ovation from the small audience, she spoke the least. She thanked supporters but declined comment on the case on the advice of her attorneys.
"This is a horrible thing for someone to go through," Cryns said.
The basement nursery of the Greater St. James Church of God in Christ became a soapbox Saturday afternoon for midwives, women who have given birth at home and a national midwife advocacy group. Over the noise and screams of children playing, they challenged Lake County State's Attorney Michael Waller to drop the case.
"Health policy should not be determined by one incident. ... It's safe. The safety is indisputable," Voices for Healthcare Freedom board member Katherine Prown said, flanked by two sons delivered at home by a midwife.
Prown organized the conference for the Richmond, Va.-based advocacy group.
Lake County Judge James Booras declared a mistrial June 4 in the involuntary manslaughter trial of Cryns in the death of Spencer Verzi. Cryns was the midwife attending the baby's birth Aug. 19. The baby was pronounced dead shortly after he was born in his parents' Round Lake Beach home.
The jury remained deadlocked 10-2 after 37 hours of deliberating. Jurors found Cryns innocent of a separate charge - involuntary manslaughter of an unborn child. A status hearing on the retrial is set for 9 a.m. Thursday.
Prown called a retrial pointless and expensive, accusing the county and state of attempting to regulate midwifery through prosecution.
About one-third of the 50 states recognize professional certification from the North American Registry of Midwives. Illinois does not.
Neither Waller nor assistant state's attorneys Claudia Kasten and Shannon Castellano returned calls Friday seeking comment on the case and Cryns' conference. Cryns family members remained equally tight-lipped.
"All I've seen (on the retrial) is what's printed in the paper," Cryns' husband, Greg, said after the conference.
Heather and Louis Verzi, the baby's parents, did not attend the conference, and could not be reached for comment. The Cryns family is under court order not to have contact with the Verzi family, Greg Cryns said.
Cryns' son, Toby, and other speakers bombarded the audience with statistics supporting the safety of home birth. While the infant mortality rate for babies delivered by midwives between 1990 and 1998 was about 4.4 percent, according to an Illinois Department of Public Health study, the rate for births attended by medical staff was more than double, or about 9.1 percent.
"If Yvonne Cryns had been practicing in a state where midwifery is recognized, she wouldn't be facing a malpractice suit, much less a crime," Prown said.
Other speakers, including mothers who gave birth at home and a representative from the Libertarian Party called the retrial an assault on freedom of choice.
"If you make an unconventional choice, your right to privacy and your right to make those choices fly right out the window," mother Colette Bernhard said.
Toby Cryns was more open than his mother, saying that the trial has brought the family together. But he did not comment on the trial or its impact on the family's finances.
Midwife thanks supporters, asks state to begin licensing
By Mick Zawislak Daily Herald Staff Writer
The chatter of restless children, many of them born at home, provided the
background Saturday for a call for state licensing of midwives.
Supporters of Yvonne Cryns, perhaps the best-known midwife in Illinois
following her recent Lake County trial on involuntary manslaughter charges
in connection with the death last summer of newborn Spencer Verzi, also
contended the courtroom was not the place to settle such issues and
demanded authorities drop any further proceedings.
"This trial has brought to the forefront the fact that families
do choose to have their babies at home," said Melissa Smith, a
midwife from Menomonee, Wis. "I would plead with the prosecutors to
please listen to public opinion."
Supporters claimed the state has spent $2 million pursuing the case
against Cryns, who was supported during the trial by the parents of
Spencer Verzi.
Smith was among several speakers, including Cryns and her 22-year-old son,
Toby, who spoke during a press conference in the basement of the Greater
St. James Church of God in Christ in North Chicago.
They stressed the safety of home births and the need for licensing for
Certified Professional Midwives, to provide a professional review when
problems arise. Supporters claimed that 2,000 Illinois residents choose
home birth each year and that the risk of a baby dying during a breech
birth at home with a midwife is the same as at a hospital.
"This should not be in the criminal system," said Algonquin
resident Michelle Breen, a consumer advocate and board member of Illinois
Families for Midwives. "You can't look at an individual case when
you're talking about safety."
After receiving a round of applause and a standing ovation from
the small crowd, Cryns spoke briefly but refused to discuss her case on
advice of lawyers.
"This is a horrible thing for someone to go through," she said.
"This isn't over yet."
Instead, she acknowledged the "hundreds and hundreds" of letters
and calls of support she has received from all over the world, including
Australia, France, Germany and Mexico.
"I appreciate everything everyone has done and I love you all,"
said the 50-year-old Richmond woman, whose case has focused attention on
home births and the practice of midwifery.
Supporters sold T-shirts ($6 for kids, $8 for adults) and videos
($25) with proceeds to Cryns' defense fund. Husband Greg Cryns said later
the family had spent "a fortune" on the case but would not
comment further. He described his wife as a "strong woman" who
"spent many years studying to be a midwife."
Jurors considered the charges against Cryns for 36 hours over four days,
in one of the longest deliberations in Lake County history She was
acquitted of involuntary manslaughter to an unborn child but the jury
deadlocked on a second charge of involuntary manslaughter.
Lake County prosecutors have maintained the case is about a single action
that resulted in the death of a child and not general practice of
midwifery. Prosecutors previously indicated they would pursue another
trial on the second charge but were not available for comment Saturday. A
status hearing is scheduled for Thursday and a new trial date may be set.
The case has generated continued publicity for direct entry midwives, so
called because practitioners begin their work without a nursing degree.
Unofficial estimates put the number of such midwives, who are not licensed
by the state, at about a dozen.
Illinois does license advanced practice nurses, with about 250 holding a
midwife specialty requiring a master's degree and special training. The
state issues cease and desist orders against the others and will continue
to do so unless or until state laws are changed, according to Tony
Sanders, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Professional
Regulation.
That practice has thinned the ranks of available midwives, supporters of
licensing say "We have researched it so much. It's very condescending
of those who are against direct entry midwives to think we haven't made an
educated decision," said Lesa Alexander Bentley, whose daughter
Marsden,
nearly 4, was born at their Waukegan home.
Bentley is pregnant and due in September. She her husband, Chris, who
works for an investment management firm and is the son of a doctor, said
their third child also will be born at home.
"Things go wrong at hospitals," said Chris Bentley. "For a
low-risk pregnancies, the best outcomes are achieved with midwives
attending, rather than doctors in attendance."
Letters from newspaper readers
Midwife ruling
"In Lake County the jury came up with a hung jury on the trial with the midwife. What this is really about is the medical profession throwing a hissy fit putting pressure on the prosecutor for a bogus prosecution. People forget that in the last articles in the paper, 94,000 people in the United States walked in the front door of hospitals and never came out the other side, other than being dead, because of mistakes by doctors and improper medications. Did we see 94,000 trials in the United States? No." � F.G.
Dialogue may help both sides
Richmond midwife Yvonne Cryns was acquitted last week of involuntary manslaughter of an unborn child. Lake County Judge James Booras declared a mistrial on a charge of involuntary manslaughter.
Cryns' actions or lack thereof during the birth of Spencer Verzi were on trial and may be headed for a sequel.
Midwives claim midwifery was on trial.
It was not. But the trial has opened debate on midwifery and its legality in Illinois. It is a separate debate worth considering but should be taken up between midwives, nurses, lawmakers, doctors and the state's powerful medical lobby.
There are rules governing certified nurse midwives, requiring them to practice under the supervision of a doctor. Those regulations are not enough because they do not govern traditional midwives.
Traditional midwives have a place, but doctors and lawmakers should determine where. Ignoring traditional midwives no longer is an answer.
Traditional midwives, however, must respect the medical industry's knowledge instead of downplaying the need for a doctor's guidance. Sometimes deliveries need more than a catcher's mitt and kind words.
Midwives proclaim childbirth as natural and safe. Usually, there are few complications. Midwives claim statistics prove they have a greater success rate than doctors. Those statistics are misleading.
Women with known complications or those who deliver premature babies are not waiting for midwives. They are heading to hospitals. Some of those babies die; others survive. All contribute to statistics for doctors. Those statistics also do not account for illnesses or congenital defects.
Doctors handle high-risk pregnancies that 100 years ago meant death for the baby and sometimes the mother. Most church death records include many babies who lived a day or a week.
Those statistics easily are discarded in the utopia created by modern medicine. Death is a possibility of childbirth but is an outcome that has been minimized by doctors.
Traditional midwives would like to practice their profession, but their main battle is not with Cryns' innocence or guilt. Instead, it is with a medical lobby that has a stranglehold on Springfield.
The Cryns verdict will have little effect on home births. Expecting parents still will find ways to employ the services of traditional midwives.
Lawmakers must bridge the gap between traditional midwives and doctors. Turning a deaf ear to the issue is a vote to return to the Middle Ages. There have been too many medical advances that separate death from birth.
Death is an outcome everyone should work to avoid.
* Bob Diedrich is a Northwest Herald community news editor. He may be reached by calling (815) 385-0170 or by e-mail at [email protected]
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