Two expectant Black mothers, nearly a thousand miles apart, were set to welcome babies—just before the holidays began. Instead of a routine arrival, both the mothers and their infants faced danger when hospital staff failed to give prompt care.
One woman was sent home and ended up delivering her child on an Indiana highway, while the other almost gave birth in a Texas hospital’s emergency waiting area.
Both women survived, but the ordeals have captured national attention, partly because videos of the incidents spread online. The stories highlight the persistent, and even worsening, health disparities that affect Black birthing people. According to the CDC’s 2023 report, Black mothers die at about 3.5 times the rate of white mothers during childbirth, whereas mortality rates for white, Hispanic, and Asian women fell in 2023.
Families, health groups, and civil‑rights advocates are demanding that the medical community confront the systemic racism that underpins these outcomes.
### “I felt dismissed”
Mercedes Wells’ water had broken when a nurse at Indiana’s Franciscan Health Crown Point hospital checked on her in a triage area (normally meant for earlier‑trimester pregnancies). Having already had three children, Wells knew the baby could arrive at any time. The nurse, however, did not see a labor signal and suggested that Wells be discharged.
“I begged, ‘No, I can’t be discharged. Please don’t take me out because I’m about to deliver,’” Wells, 38, told the Associated Press from her home in Dolton, Illinois. “I began to wail because I was in so much pain, and my feelings were hurt because that was happening to me. So I let out a cry, you know? The nurses showed no compassion, none of them,” she recalled, a moment now captured in a viral clip of her crying as nurses pushed her toward the exit.
Unable to wait any longer, Wells’ husband, Leon, whisked her into their car and drove to another medical facility. In the early hours of November 16, they pulled over on a Lake County highway, and she delivered their daughter there.
Wells said the nurses were all white, and each assured her that the attending physician had been notified. “I felt dismissed. I felt ignored, disregarded entirely,” she said. “I’m dealing with this pain, and they’re all watching me from the nurse’s station as if it’s normal to send someone out in that much pain.”
Franciscan Health Crown Point said that both the nurse and the doctor involved were terminated, and that the institution has now instituted cultural‑competency training for all labor and delivery staff. “We must fix what failed in our hospital so that no one experiences what happened to Mercedes Wells,” said president and CEO Raymond Grady.
Shortly before Wells’ experience, Kiara Jones and her mother received similar neglect at a Texas hospital.
On November 10, Jones, who was in active labor at Dallas Regional Medical Center in Mesquite, was visibly distressed and screaming in pain—a video that her mother posted online went viral. Instead of moving her to labor and delivery, staff kept her in a triage area for over thirty minutes.
“Y’all treat all your patients like this or just the black ones?” her mother asked in the clip.
Jones gave birth minutes after she was finally transported to a labor room.
A letter to the hospital from Jones’s attorneys—Romanucci & Blandin, a national civil‑rights firm, and the Dunk Law Firm—stated, “Ms. Kiara Jones’ experience during admission, labor, and delivery raises profound and disturbing concerns about Dallas Regional’s policies, practices, staff training, and culture with respect to obstetric care—particularly for women of color.”
The hospital is currently reviewing the incident and reiterated to the AP that “the safety, dignity, and well‑being of our patients are always our highest priorities.” Texas state Rep. Rhetta Bowers, a Black legislator, said the hospital had offered little information when she demanded “full answers and real corrective action.” She added, “The outrage we’re seeing is not just about one horrific incident; it reflects long‑standing inequities in healthcare that black families have endured for generations.”
### Post‑delivery problems
Postpartum care remains a key challenge for Black birthing people. Excessive bleeding, blood‑clotting, and infections are leading causes of maternal death after birth. For Black mothers, being dismissed when they report discomfort or pain can be a matter of life and death, advocates say.
A week after giving birth, Wells was admitted to a different hospital in Illinois after experiencing shortness of breath. Doctors there told her that the pain stemmed from sitting upright in the car during delivery. “It was just, I guess, a setback. I was bent over. I couldn’t even walk,” Wells told the AP. “The pain was so bad. I’ve never experienced anything like that, so we had to call the ambulance and they had to get me out of bed.” She was discharged 24 hours later, but her husband remains vigilant about the lingering impact of the first hospital’s neglect.
Jones, in Texas, underwent several medical tests for herself and her newborn. Local reports indicate her baby was stressed and had an in‑utero bowel movement, a complication blamed on the delay in care.
A national reproductive‑justice group, SisterSong, surveyed Black women across income levels, education, and appearances. “We’ve seen the wealthiest of people to the most everyday black woman just trying to live in this country, and unfortunately, their stories are the same,” said Executive Director Monica Simpson. “They are not trusted or listened to.”
### “There needs to be a big change”
After her ordeal, Wells says she no longer has faith in the health care system. She, along with her husband, plans to research hospitals more thoroughly next time, insisting that “nothing like this or remotely close to this” should happen again. “And we’re going to document everything,” Leon Wells said. “We’re going to come in with expectations that we might be getting treated wrong because we’re scared from it.”
That fear echoes research showing that implicit bias, false assumptions about pain tolerance, and structural racism lead to slower triage, delayed pain relief, and inadequate emergency response for Black patients overall. The National Black Nurses Association calls for a fundamental shift: “We must investigate these incidents; we must change.” Dr. Sheldon D. Fields, president of the association, added, “Respectful, timely, lifesaving maternity care is non‑negotiable. Hospitals must not only investigate these incidents; they must change.”
For the Wells family, the core issue is empathy. “If you’re in this field of caring for others when they need you, care,” said Leon Wells.
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