After a couple in Illinois claimed they were forced to deliver their baby in their car after being discharged from the hospital, they are speaking out with their attorney.
On Wednesday, Nov. 19, Mercedes and Leon Wells sat down with ABC News, along with their newborn daughter, Alena, and their attorney, Cannon Lambert, to share more about their ordeal and what they hope to see come out of their story.
As theGrio previously reported, the Wells say that on Sunday, Nov. 16, they were discharged from Franciscan Health Crown Point Hospital in Indiana without ever being evaluated by a doctor — even as Mercedes was visibly in active labor. Their attorney added that security personnel escorted them out of the building. Eight minutes later, as they tried to make it to another hospital, Alena was born in the couple’s car.
In footage circulating online this week, Mercedes is seen wincing through contractions, breathing heavily as hospital staff move around her.
“I was stripped of my dignity as a person,” Mercedes said. “I was treated less than an animal.”
The new mother added, given that she is Black, she felt that she experienced a racial bias. Leon, who coached her through the delivery in his truck and noted they saw “red flags” before leaving, said the moment was terrifying.
“It was sad. It was a very, very, very scary moment,” he explained. “And by great God’s grace, you know, he gave me the ability to do what I had to do at the time.”
Lambert added, “Can we agree that a woman in active labor should not be sent away without first being seen by a doctor?”
Speaking to ABC News, Franciscan Health Crown Point President and CEO Raymond Grady said the hospital is reviewing what happened.
“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 noted that, because of patient privacy laws, he could not discuss the case further, but stressed that “the videos and the narrative surrounding them” do not reflect the values of Franciscan Health Crown Point’s Catholic healthcare ministry.
As for next steps, Lambert said the first priority is securing a meeting with hospital leadership.
“We want a meeting with [the hospital’s administration], so that we can ask them why that happened, how that happened, whether or not they’re going to do something to change the protocols that allow that to happen, and whether or not this woman who was the nurse that allowed this to occur has been or is going to be dismissed,” he said.
He added that “there’s no way” dismissing a woman in active labor aligns with any legitimate hospital protocol.
Regardless, he continued, “I’m grateful to be walking this walk with them, despite the fact they should have never been put in this place.”
