Laboring Woman Asks Friend for Heroin

Summary: A woman heavy into labor got a friend to inject her with heroin before delivering the baby and going to the hospital.

Women commonly seek an epidural during labor but one New Hampshire woman opted for what she had immediate access to – heroin. Felicia Farruggia of Concord went into labor while at home and demanded her friend inject her with drugs before calling for an ambulance.

The 29-year-old mother went to the bathroom when she started having contractions to lay on the floor. She asked her friend Rhianna Frenette to inject her with heroin and methamphetamine to “take the edge off.”

Frenette claims she walked into to see Farruggia attempting to inject herself, “mutilating herself with the needle,” which broke. She says she took the used needle, squirted out over half of the contents inside and then injected the rest into Farruggia. Then they called for help. She told police that she knew what she did was wrong but was protecting the mother from injecting too much. She admitted that she may have been high on methamphetamine as well.

Farruggia gave birth while being loaded into the ambulance. The baby was born in stable condition but experienced rapid breathing when at the hospital. Blood tests showed a positive result for methamphetamine and amphetamines. Farrugia tested positive for the drugs and benzodiazepine. Her bail was set at $15,000. Bail for Frenette was set at $25,000 for injecting her laboring friend with an unsanitary needle.

The baby is now six months old and in protective custody.

Both women are no strangers to the law. Farrugia has been involved in “guardianship of a minor” cases, a custody petition, and an individual parenting petition since 2005.

Do you think the baby will ever go back to his mother? Tell us in the comments below.

To learn more about babies born into less than ideal circumstances, read these articles: