A Black mother could have lost her life and the life of her unborn child after a hospital abruptly kicked her out during active labor.
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An Indiana family is reeling after a traumatic experience at Franciscan Health Crown Point that ended with a baby being delivered on the side of the road.
Mercedes Wells, a mother of several children, arrived at the hospital on November 16, believing she was in active labor. Instead of being admitted, she says she was dismissed by hospital staff despite her visible pain and repeated statements that she was experiencing strong contractions.
Her sister-in-law, Cherise Thompson, says Wells was desperate for care.
“Mercedes begged her. She begged her,” she said, referring to the nurse on duty. “She said, ‘I’m really in active labor. I can feel it, contractions as I walk. I mean my pain. I’m telling you, I can feel it.’ And she just ignored her.”
Video footage shows Wells being wheeled out of the facility, not into a delivery room but out the front door. Told she was only three centimeters dilated, the staff instructed her to go home and wait.
But just eight minutes later, Wells delivered her baby in the family car on the highway. Her husband pulled over and, with no medical help, safely delivered their daughter.
“He grabbed, like, a blanket, and then put the baby on Mercedes’ chest, my niece on her chest, and drove the rest of the way to the hospital, to Munster Community,” Thompson explained.
Although mother and baby are today healthy, the family says they want accountability.
“I want there to be some sort of change so that other families don’t have to experience this,” Thompson said.
Franciscan Health says it is currently investigating what happened.
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