When you walk into a hospital, you expect care. You expect someone to listen. You expect to be safe. You do not need to be rich or famous for that. That is the basic hope every person carries. But for an Indiana woman named Mercedes Wells, that simple hope was broken. She ended up giving birth on the side of the road after the hospital sent her home too soon.
Mercedes went to Franciscan Health Crown Point Hospital on November sixteen because she felt her baby was coming. She trusted her body. She knew something was happening. But the staff told her to go back home and wait until her labour got stronger. They sent her away before she even saw a doctor.
Mercedes knew this was not right. She knew her labour had already started. On the way home, things moved too fast. Her husband, Leon, had to deliver the baby himself in their car on the roadside. Later, the family shared a video of Mercedes being taken out of the hospital in a wheelchair.
Thankfully, the baby is healthy. But the family is heartbroken and angry. They said they tried to make the hospital understand that Mercedes knew her own body. They now believe there may have been racial bias involved and are thinking about their legal options.
The hospital President, Raymond Grady, responded by saying that the videos and the story people are seeing do not match the hospital’s values. He said their mission is to care with respect and compassion.
But the concerns the family raised are not new. Research from the Pew Research Center shows that Black women in America often face serious medical bias. Many conditions, like endometriosis, go undiagnosed. Many Black women report that their pain is often dismissed. Seventy percent say they have had at least one negative experience with a healthcare provider.
Mercedes’ lawyer is not saying yet whether they will sue. But it is likely that the hospital and the family will discuss things privately before anything goes to court.
When Leon talked about how scared he was, you understand how much was at risk. They were turned away from a place meant to help them. He had to deliver his child by the road and feared something could go terribly wrong. No family should ever be put in that position, especially when healthcare is already becoming harder to access for many people.
The Wells family deserved better.