A doctor and a nurse at Franciscan Health Crown Point in Crown Point, Indiana, have been fired after hospital staff turned away a mother in active labor and she gave birth in her husband’s car just eight minutes later, according to her family.

The incident took place on Nov. 16 when Mercedes Wells arrived at the hospital with her husband Leon, after they phoned ahead. Wells said the staff told the couple to go home and wait for labor to progress. Minutes later delivered her baby girl, Alena, in the car.

Cellphone video posted by the family showed Wells breathing heavily in a wheelchair inside the hospital before security escorted her out. In an interview with CBS News Chicago, Wells said she was “met with really stern faces — no welcoming faces as I usually would get when I go to a hospital or a place of care,” and that despite feeling “excruciating pain” a nurse told her she was “not far enough along” to be admitted.

Franciscan Health confirmed the physician and nurse “directly involved with Mrs. Wells’ care are no longer employed by Franciscan,” Franciscan Health Crown Point President and CEO Raymond Grady told People. Grady called the footage “difficult to watch” and said it “does not reflect the values of Franciscan Health Crown Point,” adding, “Compassionate concern is absent when a caregiver fails to listen to a patient who is clearly in pain and vulnerable.”

Grady said the hospital has “mandated cultural competency training for all labor and delivery staff” and ordered that “all pregnant patients leaving the Labor and Delivery unit will be examined by a physician before they leave the hospital.” He apologized to the Wells family and said the system will take steps to “fix what failed in our hospital so that no one experiences what happened to Mercedes Wells.” 

According to local reports, the Wells family has retained an attorney and allege they were treated unfairly because they are Black. After delivering her daughter in the car, Wells was taken to Community Hospital in Munster, Indiana, for care. Hospital leaders said they are cooperating with law enforcement and pursuing internal reviews. The family is seeking accountability and changes to ensure pregnant patients are heard.