Medical staff fired for discharging woman in labor, who then gave birth in truck

A doctor and nurse at an Indiana hospital have been fired for discharging a pregnant woman while she was in active labor; the mother gave birth in her husband's truck.

Key Takeaways:

• Mercedes Wells checked into Franciscan Health Crown Point Hospital in Indiana while in labor.

• Staff discharged her, saying she needed to go home and let her labor progress further.

• Wells subsequently gave birth in her husband's truck while trying to make it to another hospital.

• The doctor and nurse who discharged her have since been fired.

The Details:

Wells checked into Franciscan Health Crown Point Hospital in Indiana after she and her husband, Leon, called to alert them to her arrival. Wells was in active labor, and yet, when she arrived, she said the staff ignored her obvious pain and then discharged her.

A viral video on Facebook showed Wells being discharged while tearfully trying to breathe through her contractions:

Cherise Thompson, Wells' sister-in-law, posted the video and told WLS she was shocked by what had happened.

"Sunday morning, I woke up to frantic texts from my mother saying, 'Call me as soon as you wake up,'" Thompson said. "My mother was screaming like, 'Your brother just delivered his baby! Your brother just delivered the baby!' And I'm like, 'What are you talking about?!'"

Wells told NBC Chicago that she didn't even get the chance to speak with a doctor before being discharged, but a nurse told her that discharging her was under "doctor's orders."

"Upon returning to the room, [the nurse was] like 'Well, if you're not further along in your centimeters, then you know we've got to send you home,'" she said.

Just minutes after leaving the hospital, while trying to reach Community Hospital in Munster, Leon Wells pulled over to the side of the road and helped his wife deliver their newborn child in his truck.

‘PREVENTABLE’: How pro-abortion media is weaponizing reporting on maternal deaths

"Two minutes in, I'm like, I have to push. So I start pulling my pants down. I'm like please help me, 'cause I need help pulling my pants off so I can get this baby out," Mercedes said. "I began to push, the head came out. He's on the phone with 911… He pulls over to catch the baby, she came out."

They named their baby girl Alena.

"I saw her pushing ... pulled a little bit, baby came out and just didn't know what to do," Leon said. "I just prayed."

What's Happening:

Raymond Grady, the president and CEO of Franciscan Health Crown Point, said a doctor and nurse have been fired from the hospital. He said the video of Wells being discharged while in labor was difficult to watch.

"We failed to listen to Mrs. Wells’ concerns. As an experienced mother who publicly acknowledged having previously given birth at our hospital with a positive experience, she knew something was not right," Grady said. "We must fix what failed in our hospital so that no one experiences what happened to Mercedes Wells."

On Tuesday, Illinois Rep. Robin Kelly announced the WELLS Act, or the Women Expansion for Learning and Labor Safety Act. The bill is named for Wells and would require any hospital that provides obstetric, emergency, or labor and delivery services to have a “Safe Discharge Labor Plan before discharging a patient who presents with signs or symptoms of labor.” It would also require racial bias training for health care professionals.

Kelly plans to introduce it after the Thanksgiving break.

The Bottom Line:

While baby Alena was born safe and healthy, it was a terrifying moment for the family.

As Wells said, "We've heard of children not making it, so it could have gone any way and I wasn't being cared for by a professional."