Woman gives birth on side of road after being discharged from Indiana hospital, family says

"Breathing through her contractions, Mercedes Wells was wheeled out of Franciscan Health Crown Point Hospital in Indiana on Sunday. Her family said the hospital staff had just discharged the mother of multiple children, telling her to go home and wait for her labor to progress. Cherise Thompson says she knew her sister-in-law had been admitted to the hospital, but did not expect what she would hear next. 'Sunday morning, I woke up to frantic texts from my mother saying, 'Call me as soon as you wake up,' Cherise 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?!''"

"After the hospital discharged Mercedes, Cherise said, her brother, Leon, escorted his wife back into the truck to find another hospital. Eight minutes into their drive, Leon and Mercedes' daughter was born on the side of the road, delivered by her father. 'He grabbed, like, a blanket, and then, put the baby on Mercedes' chest, my niece on her chest, and drove the rest of the way to the hospital, to Munster Community,' Cherise said."

"Doctors at Munster Community Hospital took over, providing the care Cherise says Mercedes pleaded for in Crown Point. 'Mercedes begged her. She begged her,' Cherise said, referring to the nurse. 'She said, 'I'm really in active labor. I can feel it, contractions as I walk. I mean my pain. I'm telling you; I can feel it.' And she just ignored her.'"

Mercedes Wells was wheeled out of Franciscan Health Crown Point Hospital after staff discharged her while she was contracting, with instructions to wait at home for labor to progress. Family members received frantic texts and later learned that Mercedes' husband, Leon, had taken her back to their truck to find another hospital. Eight minutes into the drive, their daughter was born on the side of the road and was delivered by her father, who placed the newborn on Mercedes' chest and continued to Munster Community Hospital. Medical staff at Munster provided the care Mercedes had requested at Crown Point. The family is calling for accountability and changes to prevent similar incidents.

Read at ABC7 Los Angeles