A new mom has been left traumatized after Child Protective Services officials allegedly forced her to undergo a urine test and a home search when she tested positive for opioids before the birth of her son - all because she ate a poppyseed bagel that morning.
New Jersey mom Caitlyn Marie Ricci took to TikTok to describe her horrific experience - soon garnering over 44,000 views.
After heading to the hospital to get induced at 39 weeks, Ricci said she underwent a mandatory drug test that she believed would come back negative as she "obviously" had not taken any illegal substances. When the test came back positive for opioids, however, Child Protective Services launched a neglect investigation.
"I just had a baby eight days ago, I just wanted to share a little bit about my experience because I don't think anyone should have to go through some of the things I went through," the 29-year-old began in the video posted October 11.
"I feel like the OB offices need to be more transparent about potential things that could happen. I get to the hospital to get induced at 39 weeks and they drug test you in New Jersey hospitals, which is not a big deal, I wasn't worried about it," she continued.
"But they come back and tell me that my drug test came back positive for opioids - opioids?! I was like, 'Uh no, definitely not. Did you mix my sample up? I'm very confused.' My husband and I realized, we had everything bagels that morning. The nurse was like, '[Did you have] a good amount of poppy seeds?' We were like, 'Oh my God, we had everything bagels this morning,'" Ricci added.
There have been multiple instances of people testing positive for opioids after consuming foods containing poppyseeds. PubMed.gov has detailed that the seeds contain between 17.4 to 18.6 micrograms of morphine and 2.3 to 2.5 micrograms of codeine.
"[The doctors] were like, 'It's totally fine, this happens, it's not a big deal. We've seen this. We're going to test the baby when he's born and if everything's clear, all good, you're totally fine. If he's negative, obviously you weren't doing anything.' His test came back negative and we think everything is fine - but no. Apparently, it needs to be reported to the state, to Child Protective Services," Ricci told media outlet Yahoo Life.
"It literally [became] a child neglect case, so I had to have CPS come and interview me after having an emergency C-section after 40 hours of labor,' she explained on TikTok. They interviewed me in the hospital and had to come and check my home before I could even leave the hospital with the baby. They came back again once the baby was here, and [made me] take another drug test four days after having a C-section," she added.
After having her home searched by Child Protective Services, Ricci stated that she hadn't heard from them. "No news is good news in a situation like this," she said.
Ricci has advised doctors and hospitals to relay this information to patients, especially given the potential ramifications of testing positive for opioids.
