And now for a story that'll make your head spin: A mom in Tonawanda, New York, spent days separated from her newborn son after eating a bagel with poppyseeds, of all things. According to WKBW, Elizabeth Dominguez, 29, says she ate the bagel just hours before going into labor on May 1. But once she reached the hospital, they asked for a urine sample — and she was shocked when it came back positive for opiates.
There are lots of things they tell you not to do in the last days of pregnancy -- such as fly off to distant countries. But eating a bagel with poppyseeds?
… yeah, that's not usually one of the warnings you read in the baby books.
And yet, Dominguez says that's exactly what happened earlier this month.
“I called my husband freaking out saying, ‘How is this possible?’ I don’t do drugs,” she later told WKBW.
That's when her husband Mark reportedly asked what she'd eaten that day.
“And I told him a bagel and a sub. That’s all I had," she recalled.
BINGO — that was it.
"He told me it must be from the bagel,” she said.
Confused? You see, poppyseeds are actually derived from opium plants (yes, that kind of opium), and eating just one could lead to a failed drug test.
“In some cases eating a large amount of poppyseed such as the kind found in a bagel has been shown to produce low levels of morphine and codeine in the urine,” said Dr. Michelle Rainka, a clinical pharmacist at DENT. “Potentially those seeds have not been washed and can contain that.”
If you're about to take a drug test of any kind, Rainka says you should be aware and avoid a bagel with poppyseeds.
“Anywhere from one to three bagels with poppyseeds can produce positive tests on a urine toxicology,” she shared.
Dominguez's initial shock escalated quickly, as her hospital was forced to follow protocol shortly after she gave birth and called CPS.
“I told the lab, I told the hospital, I told everyone, ‘Retest me. Take my blood. Do whatever you have to do, because this isn’t right,’” she said, according to People.
But the hospital had to follow protocol, which included calling Child Protective Services to her room. “CPS shows up in my room, asking me all sorts of questions like, ‘If we are to take your kids and your baby away from you, where would you like them to go?’ ” she said.
After she gave birth, she was tested again along with her newborn son, Carter. Although both didn't actually test positive for opiates, the hospital had to continue to monitor Carter just in case for symptoms of withdrawal — even after Dominguez was discharged.
As a result, the new mom was forced to be separated from her son within 24 hours of giving birth. He was reportedly kept in the hospital for an additional 24 hours for monitoring, precious time that new mom couldn't spend with him.
As shocking as this story is, it's actually not the first time something like this has made headlines.
In fact, just last year, a new mom from Maryland also failed a drug test before labor because of eating a poppyseed bagel. In that case, Elizabeth Eden was also shocked by the news. And although she admitted that she'd vaguely heard about this happening before, she definitely wasn't expecting it to come up while she was giving birth.
"I said, 'Well, can you test me again? And I ate a poppy seed bagel this morning for breakfast,' and she said, 'No, you've been reported to the state.'"
Although Dominguez and her baby are back together again, she's sharing her story in hopes of sparing other moms the same plight.
“I felt absolutely horrible,” she said, looking back on her birth experience. “I felt like a terrible mother leaving him. I just want everyone to know that this could happen. It’s such a terrible thing and I don’t want it to happen to anyone.”
According to WKBW, reports have since confirmed that Dominguez did have a false positive because of the poppyseed bagel. Although the chances of this happening might be slight, it's still good information to know if you're pregnant now or planning to be. Long story short: Eat all the poppyseed bagels you want in the first trimester — after that, you might want to switch to sesame.
