A doctor and nurse who discharged a pregnant woman in active labor from an Indiana hospital just minutes before she said she gave birth in a vehicle on the side of the road have been fired following an internal investigation, the hospital’s CEO announced Friday.
Franciscan Health Crown Point President and CEO Raymond Grady said viral video of the situation 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 in a statement. “We must fix what failed in our hospital so that no one experiences what happened to Mercedes Wells.”
Mercedes Wells posted on social media that she went to Franciscan Hospital in Crown Point, Indiana, just after midnight Sunday believing she was in labor. She wrote in a Facebook post that while she never saw a doctor, she was sent home hours later after nurses told her she was not progressing and told to return if labor persists.
“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,'” Wells told NBC Chicago.
Videos posted to Leon Wells’ social media accounts documenting what his wife said happened later went viral, showing the pregnant mom being wheeled out of the hospital while in tears. The family said they begged staff not to discharge her but were told it was the “doctor’s orders.”
The family ultimately left the facility and began traveling north to Community Hospital in Munster, Indiana.
But they said minutes into their drive, Leon Wells helped his wife deliver their newborn child in his truck.
“I saw her pushing … pulled a little bit, baby came out and just didn’t know what to do,” he said. “I just prayed.”
Leon Wells shared videos on social media of his wife holding the infant, with its umbilical cord still attached, in his car.
“I was scared,” Mercedes Wells said. “I didn’t know what to do.”
The family named the baby Alena and said she was doing well Tuesday.
“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,” Mercedes Well said.
Grady acknowledged the video, saying it “does not reflect the values of Franciscan Health Crown Point, which include respect for life and compassionate concern.”
“Respect for life can be compromised when a mother and baby are prematurely discharged. Thankfully, both mother and baby are reportedly doing well and everyone should celebrate the new addition to this family,” the statement read.
He went on to say that the physician and the nurse directly involved with Wells’ care “are no longer employed by Franciscan.”
“Secondly, I have mandated cultural competency training for all labor and delivery staff. Lastly, all pregnant patients leaving the Labor and Delivery unit will be examined by a physician before they leave the hospital,” Grady said. “On behalf of Franciscan Alliance and Franciscan Health Crown Point, I apologize to Mrs. Wells and her family for failing to live up to our Franciscan values. We are committed to holding ourselves accountable through our actions so that every patient is heard and receives compassionate, equitable care. Any evidence of actions to the contrary will not be tolerated.”
The Wells family said earlier this week they have not met with anyone from Franciscan since leaving the hospital Sunday, but in a press conference this week called for a meeting with administrators. They also said they believed race played a role in their experience.
Grady said he has reached out and hopes “to meet in person with them very soon.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly is set to hold a press conference with Wells next week.
Kelly, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust, said she will be introducing new legislation “to prevent any similar situations,” noting the disparity in maternal mortality for Black women.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 50,000 women suffer from pregnancy complications annually in the U.S., but that Black women are at least three times more likely to die due to a pregnancy-related cause when compared to white women.