A 38-year-old Black woman is going viral after her family posted multiple videos on social media of her being wheeled out of a Chicago hospital by two nurses while in severe pain from active labor.
According to ABC News, eight minutes later, Mercedes Wells claims she gave birth in her truck on the side of the highway, with her husband delivering the baby by himself.
Wells claimed that she was having contractions and waited in the hospital for six hours, but a doctor never examined her. “I was stripped of my dignity as a person, ’cause I was treated less than an animal,” Wells said.
In response to the incident going viral, the hospital’s CEO said this in a statement: “The video and the comments it has generated are deeply troubling, and we understand the concerns 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.”
Plenty of people called out the medical racism they felt could be a factor in the alleged event…
“this is racist medical ppl not believing black women when they say they’re in a long of pain,” one person wrote.
While others demanded compensation for the couple…
“the way black women are treated in hospitals is WILD – me and my wife have experienced the mistreatment first hand (on more than one occasion) and my wife is in the healthcare field herself. This is real and its not right,” one person shared on X.
Another person shared their experience being mistreated at an emergency room after fracturing their foot…
According to the CDC, “Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause,” though over 80% of pregnancy-related deaths are considered “preventable.”
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