Mercedes and Leon Wells, a Black couple from Illinois, are speaking out after they claimed they had to deliver their daughter on the side of the road on Sunday after they were discharged from Franciscan Health Crown Point Hospital in Indiana while Mercedes Wells was in active labor.
The couple opened up about their experience in a Wednesday interview with ABC News Live anchor Kyra Phillips, where they were joined by their newborn daughter, Alena, and their attorney.
Mercedes Wells claimed that she was at the hospital for about six hours and was only seen by a nurse, not a doctor. Wells claims that her contractions were 10 minutes apart when she arrived and the nurse, who has not been named, told her that she was not dilated enough and would be discharged if her labor didn’t progress.
“She checked me and told me I was 3 centimeters apart. And then she said, ‘I’ll come back and I’ll check you again. And if you haven’t progressed, we’ll send you home,'” Wells told Phillips. “I told her, ‘I can’t go home. I’m about to have this baby soon.'”
According to Wells, her contractions became more frequent and the “pain got worse and worse,” but she claimed that the nurse again told her that her labor had not progressed and that she was going to notify the doctor that they were going to discharge Wells from the hospital.
“I never saw anybody, just the nurse. And she told me that they had to send me home,” Wells said.
Franciscan Health Crown Point President and CEO Raymond Grady told ABC News in a statement on Tuesday that the hospital is investigating the incident.
“We are grateful to learn from online and media reports that both mother and child are reportedly doing well,” Grady said. “We understand the concern this has raised. The video is just one part of the information we are reviewing as part of a thorough investigation into this alleged incident.”
He added, “While patient privacy laws make it difficult for us to comment more deeply, it is important to note that the videos and the narrative surrounding them do not accurately represent Franciscan Health Crown Point’s Catholic healthcare ministry’s values, which include respect for life, compassionate concern and Christian stewardship. Our goal is to make everyone who walks through our doors feel the love of Christ through our actions.”
Leon Wells said that as they drove home, his wife told him that she couldn’t wait until they got to another hospital and had to deliver their baby in the car.
“I was scared. I was terrified,” Leon Wells said, recounting how he had to help deliver his daughter without any medical qualifications or training.
“It was a very, very, very scary moment and by God’s grace, he gave me the abilities to do what I had to do at the time,” he said.
The couple said they are thankful that Alena is healthy.
The couple’s attorney, Cannon Lambert, told ABC News that they are calling for accountability and are requesting a meeting with hospital personnel.
“We want to ask about what their protocols and policies are that would allow for them to say that this type of thing was OK,” Lambert said, adding that “there no way in the world” a woman who was in active labor should have been discharged.
Asked what her message is to medical professionals, Mercedes Wells said, “Listen to the patient. Treat people with dignity and respect.”
She added, “If that woman says she’s in labor, give her the respect to treat her kindly and help her through her labor.”
