A horrifying story coming out of Crown Point, Ind., has gone viral online and been met with disgust, outrage, and anger for how a pregnant Black woman was treated by shockingly incompetent hospital staff.
According to ABC 7 Chicago, 38-year-old Mercedes Wells was forced to leave Franciscan Health hospital after six hours of enduring agonizing labor pains. When her contractions were just one minute apart, a nurse at the facility forced her to leave.
“I was in excruciating pain. She seen me in pain and agony, and I guess she still perceived me to not be in labor,” Mercedes said. “Upon returning to the room she’s like, ‘Well, if you aren’t further along in your centimeters then, you know, we gotta send you home””
Just eight minutes later, on the side of the road, Wells and her husband Leon delivered their daughter, Alena Wells, with no medical equipment, no medicine, no safety apparatus, and no medical staff.
As a proud mother of three other children, Mercedes says this experience was deeply disturbing…
“I was stripped of my dignity. As a person, I was treated less than an animal,” Mercedes said.
Sadly, this is an all too common occurrence where Black women are not believed by doctors and medical practitioners when they complain of pain or try to communicate what they are feeling in their bodies. In response to this story, social media users recounted a similar incident that Serena Williams previously revealed about her experience giving birth. The complications that the tennis GOAT was experiencing fell on deaf ears and she damn-near died because medical staff would not take her concerns seriously.
According to ABC News, Franciscan Health Crown Point President and CEO Raymond Grady released a statement regarding Wells’ harrowing experience at his hospital.
“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 added, “While patient privacy laws make it difficult for us to comment more deeply, it is important to note that the videos and the narrative surrounding them do not accurately represent Franciscan Health Crown Point’s Catholic healthcare ministry’s values, which include respect for life, compassionate concern and Christian stewardship. Our goal is to make everyone who walks through our doors feel the love of Christ through our actions.”
Kicking out a pregnant woman who is clearly in pain isn’t very Christ-like. Wells and her husband say that they are not considering a lawsuit, but they do want to meet with the administration to ensure that other women never have this happen to them.
