A Dolton mother says she is still processing the trauma of delivering her baby in a truck on the side of the road, just days after staff at a northwest Indiana hospital told her to leave.
“After being kicked out of the hospital and begging to stay but still being pushed away was hurtful, disgraceful,” Mercedes Wells told reporters Tuesday. “I felt unheard. I felt ignored. I felt treated less than human.”
She was joined by U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, who said she plans to file a bill to make sure what happened to Wells does not happen again to anyone else.
“It’s clear that Mercedes’ story isn’t an isolated incident,” Kelly said. “This is not a Franciscan Health problem but rather a systemic issue.”
Mercedes Wells and her husband Leon Wells were traveling in northwest Indiana Nov. 16 when she went into labor a couple of weeks before her due date. After arriving at Franciscan Health Crown Point, the couple said a nurse told them to leave because Mercedes Wells wasn’t far enough along despite being in active labor.
Mercedes Wells holds her newborn daughter, Alena Wells, as her husband and Alena’s dad, Leon Wells, stands behind them.
Mercedes Wells said Tuesday that her water had broken and her contractions were only a few minutes apart when they left the hospital. She delivered her daughter, Alena, inside a truck on the side of the road eight minutes after they left the hospital.
“The staff at that hospital were so cold toward me and my family,” Mercedes Wells said. “I don’t want anyone else to have to experience that during a time when they should be happy and overjoyed bringing a life into this world.”
Mercedes Wells, now a mother of four, said the nurse ignored her, and the doctor on call never came to see her.
The doctor and nurse who were directly involved in Wells’ case were fired from Franciscan Health, the hospital’s president and chief executive, Raymond Grady, announced shortly after the incident. The hospital altered its policy for discharging pregnant patients and mandated additional training.
Mercedes Wells (center), whose baby was delivered by her husband after she was discharged by Franciscan Health Crown Point in Indiana despite being in labor, speaks Tuesday about her experience during a news conference at the Lester Long Fieldhouse in Dolton.
Mercedes was hospitalized at Community Hospital in Munster, Indiana, Sunday after experiencing post-birth issues. She was discharged a few days later.
Kelly’s bill, the WELLS act, stands for Women’s Expansion for Learning and Labor Safety.
Kelly said the bill, if it becomes law, will push hospitals and birthing centers to develop and follow safe discharge plans. The bill also addresses systemic issues in maternal care, racial disparities and hospital accountability, she said.
“Our health care system is broken. Black women across the country are suffering and dying,” Kelly said.
Mercedes Wells said she’s hopeful other mothers won’t have to endure the kind of birthing experience she went through.
“I want to make sure no other woman, no other Black or Brown woman, will have to deal with such disdain,” she said.