Baby died after Christian parents refused treatment in favour of 'faith healing'

A baby has died after her deeply religious parents refused medical treatment — instead trusting ‘faith healing’.

Sarah and Travis Mitchell, 24 and 21, who are both Christians, were arrested on Monday after an investigation into the death of their daughter, Ginnifer.

The mum gave birth to twin girls on March 5, in Oregon City, Oregon, in the US, but one of the babies developed breathing complications within hours.

The pair, who are facing murder and criminal mistreatment charges, failed to act because of their religious beliefs.

As members of the Followers of Christ Church, they shun modern medicine, preferring to employ prayer and oils in an attempt to heal the sick.

According to reports, family and church members, plus three midwives, were present for the home birth, but no one called emergency services. The baby died shortly after.

Church elder Carl Hansen later contacted the county medical examiner, who said the Mitchells’ surviving daughter needed medical attention and called police.

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This is not the first case of its sort. Several members of the same church have been charged after failing to seek medical care for their children, including Sarah Mitchell’s sister and brother-in-law, Shannon and Dale Hickman.

They were convicted of manslaughter in 2011 after the death of their son, David.

In Oregon, faith healing has been removed as a legal defence for murder and manslaughter, but still exists in neighbouring Idaho, where the Followers of Christ church also operates.

It is one of only six states that offer a faith-based shield for these felony crimes.

There are fewer than 2,000 members of the church, which has gained notoriety because it practices faith healing and shuns of members who seek medical care.

In Oregon, a former state medical examiner has claimed the infant mortality rate within the community is 26 times that of the general population.

In 2014, a Pennsylvania mother and father, who are part of a separate Christian group, were jailed for causing the death of their child by refusing to take him to the doctor.

The boy was the second of Herbert and Catherine Schaible’s children to die under their care.

At the trial, the Philadelphia Judge Benjamin Lerner told the couple: “You’ve killed two of your children… not God, not your church, not religious devotion — you.”