MACON, Ga. — An Atrium Health Navicent nurse faces a felony charge for allegedly recording a woman in labor and posting it to social media.
The alleged video recording happened at Atrium Health Navicent on May 16.
The arrest warrant says the woman who gave birth learned on August 9 that the video had circulated.
About six weeks later, Atrium's hospital police arrested the nurse.
We obtained an arrest warrant from the Bibb County Magistrate Court.
It says the woman giving birth noticed nurse Rachel Fastow enter the room with her phone's flash on in the pocket of her hospital scrubs.
Another nurse noticed her phone.
Fastow seemed to turn her phone off.
"It's an oddball situation. You don't normally go around taking pictures of people in labor," Mercer Law Professor Dave Oedel said.
But three months later, the woman says she learned that a Snapchat video of her in labor was circulating on Atrium's Labor and Delivery floor.
Oedel says this is now being pursued under Georgia State law.
"Boy, if I were the counsel to Atrium and Navicent, I would be quite concerned," Oedel said.
Fastow is accused of a single count of violating the state's eavesdropping charge, which is a felony.
"Georgia has an unusually stringent privacy law. That's a tough law. That's a felony you can be in prison for up to five years," Oedel said.
Bibb County jail records show that Fastow was arrested around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday.
She was released about 20 hours later after posting a $44,000 bond.
Fastow faces up to five years in prison or a $10,000 fine or both.
13WMAZ reached out to both Fastow and to the woman who made the complaint against her. Neither responded.
Atrium Health Navicent sent 13WMAZ a statement. It says:
"Privacy is of the utmost importance to our organization – both for our patients and for our teammates. Our goal is always that every patient who entrusts us with their care has a positive experience in safe environment. We are aware of the charges and are fully cooperating with the ongoing investigation to understand all of the details of this case. Once all the facts are known, we will take whatever actions are appropriate, based on the findings."