Found some interesting posts on a medical forum:

Just saw a longer clip of this incident on TV. The way the father was holding the baby showed little concern for her safety. He had her head in his right hand and her body along his right forearm. And his right arm was extended, not crossing his body. This is an unusual and not particularly careful stance for carrying a newborn. He didn't appear to be protective of the child. I have never seen anyone carry a newborn like this and I work postpartum.
Couple gives their account of hospital Taser incident
Video from local hospital making national headlines
KTRK By Laura Whitley

(8/15/07 - KTRK/HOUSTON) - Exclusive video of a Houston father who was shot with a Taser while holding his baby is making national headlines. Now another couple who was at the hospital that day has come forward.

The couple has remained silent for months. After we broadcast surveillance video of the incident, the Houston parents felt like it was important to provide a missing link to this story. The surveillance tape has no sound, but the people I spoke with say they heard almost everything that happened that morning.

When Ruben and Dana Santillan gaze at their new baby's picture, they fill with pride. Little Elena's birth also reminds them of a terrifying ordeal. She was less than day old when in the middle of the night, a scene captured on surveillance video erupted outside of their hospital room.

"You could hear him and all the nurses arguing about, he wasn't to leave, you all need to let me out of the hospital," said Ruben.

William Lewis demanded nurses allow him to take his four-day-old baby girl home. He and his wife wanted to leave Texas Women's Hospital with their baby, Karla. They refused to follow hospital procedure. We spoke with Lewis by phone about his conversation with nurses.

"He told me, sir, if you do not take the baby back into the room, we're going to have to call security on you," Lewis told us. "And at that point, I decided this was the last straw."

"He yelled to them, he was like, 'I bet if I turned this into a hostage situation, somebody would let me out of this hospital'," said Ruben.

For the Santillans, with that statement, Lewis crossed the line. That's when they got scared.

"He definitely was belligerent and irate and he caused a threat to the whole floor," said Ruben.

That's why they believe an off-duty Houston police officer did the right thing when he shot Lewis with a Taser. At the time, Lewis was holding his newborn baby and she fell to the floor.

"He was the one who did wrong, not anybody else," said Dana. "He put the baby in that situation."

Coupled with anger, the Santillans also feel sad. Memories of the birth of their youngest child have been marred.

"You're supposed to have happy memories and here we are with a conflict that happened the night she was born," said Dana.

Lewis still believes that his rights were violated and that he did nothing wrong. He was charged with child endangerment, but a grand jury did not indict him. He is still facing two charges of retaliation against the officer.
(Copyright © 2007, KTRK-TV)


One lesson learned: Bad idea to say the phrase "hostage situation" when you're attempting to check a baby out of the hospital AMA without signing paperwork.

ETA: Strike that. It's a lesson that should have been learned, but I'm not sure if it actually was.