‘I Cannot Help’: Viral Videos Show Black Women in Active Labor Dismissed by Hospitals. One Was Forced to Give Birth in a Truck
A viral video showing a Texas nurse's nonchalant attitude toward a pregnant patient in intense labor has set off intense conversation online about how hospitals treat Black maternal health. Originally posted on TikTok, where it drew more than 20 million views in less than a day, the clip shows a Black woman suffering extreme labor pains in a triage room at the Dallas Regional Medical Center, a for-profit hospital in Mesquite, Texas, while a nurse sits on a computer, indifferently asking her questions. "When's your due date?" the nurse flatly asks as the woman screams in pain. Two Black women in separate states were denied urgent care while in labor. (Photos: TikTok/Kashman2814, Facebook/ Leon Wells) "Right now," the patient states. "Is your due date the 10th or the 11th?" the nurse asks in the same tone, as the woman screams again. "What?" the woman asks. "How many times have you been pregnant?" the nurse asks. "Three!" the woman irritably growls through contraction pains. The nurse continues asking questions about her past pregnancies and her current doctor, unmoved by the woman's pain. She hops on a call with another hospital staffer to discuss the patient's medical history as the woman sits in a wheelchair in pain. At one point, the woman's mother asks the nurse, "Y'all treat all your patients like this or just the Black ones?" The clip was overlaid with text saying the woman was waiting to be taken to L&D for half an hour and delivered her baby only minutes after she was finally taken to a birthing room. https://www.tiktok.com/@kashman2814/video/7572283745214958879?_r1&_tZP-91OvpdwoJck In another clip, the woman is heard asking for an anesthesiologist, to which the nurse responds that someone will come to take her to the labor and delivery unit (L&D). "That's not what I asked," the woman responds. "I cannot help," the nurse dully states. The baby's grandmother confirmed the infant was delivered on Nov. 11. She posted videos of her daughter's birthing experience at the hospital on Nov. 13, where they drew backlash all over social media over the nurse's bedside manner and triggered discourse about the neglect and systemic racism Black women face in the health care system that contributes to their increased maternal mortality rate. "This is sad and upsetting to watch. Where is the urgency, empathy, and compassion?" one person commented. "I'm a labor and delivery nurse and my jaw is on the ground! What did I just watch? I never knew an ER to not send a pregnant lady DIRECTLY up to OB. No questions! This is such poor care for that poor woman," someone else wrote. "What pmo is racism and high mortality rates in death in childbirth of black women in hospitals are known but swept under the rug. The healthcare system isn't working to improve how we are treated," another comment read. According to the CDC, the maternal mortality rate for Black women in 2023 was 50.3 deaths per 100,000 live births. Compared to white women (14.5), Hispanic women (12.4), and Asian women (10.7), the maternal mortality rate that year for Black women was three times the rate for women belonging to other racial groups, whose rates dropped from previous years while Black women's increased. Research shows that several factors contribute to the high mortality rate, including systemic and medical bias, limited access to quality health care, socioeconomic factors, and the increased risk Black women experience for developing certain conditions during pregnancy, like sepsis and cardiomyopathy, which can cause delivery complications. In a follow-up video, the woman's mother said her daughter was supposed to be induced at the hospital earlier that day, but the facility called to tell her they didn't have any beds. When her daughter's water broke later that day, they called the hospital ahead of time to let them know they were on their way. When they arrived, the hospital didn't admit them immediately; they had to fill out paperwork and wait. After the child was delivered, the grandmother said he and his mother were doing fine, but the hospital had to run some tests after he was born with his eyes open and passed his first bowel movement, known as meconium, while still inside the womb, causing the amniotic fluid to turn green. If meconium is passed inside the womb, it puts the baby at risk of developing meconium aspiration syndrome if the baby breathes in the fluid. With treatment, the condition can be cured within days. The family didn't share the results of those hospital tests, but other videos show the baby at home, safe and sound. In the days after the videos went viral, other clips surfaced showing other Black mothers suffering similar treatment from hospitals where they sought to deliver their babies. Black Woman In Labor Allegedly Sent Home from Indiana Hospital A now-viral clip shows an Indiana hospital booting a Black woman from the facility while she's in active labor. While she was being taken to another hospital, she delivered her baby in the car. Mercedes Wells says she walked into Franciscan Hospital in Crown Point just after midnight on Sunday, clearly feeling the onset of labor. But instead of receiving care, she says she was sent home hours later, dismissed by nurses who told her she “wasn’t progressing” and should only return if things worsened. Minutes after leaving, things did worsen. According to videos posted by her husband, Leon Wells, the couple barely made it down the road before Mercedes gave birth in the front seat of their truck. The clips, showing Mercedes clutching their newborn baby mere feet from the hospital that turned her away, have since spread across social media, sparking outrage and disbelief. Leon later told NBC Chicago that, thankfully, the baby is doing well. The hospital, now facing mounting scrutiny, issued a brief statement insisting that “the health and safety of our patients is always our top priority” and confirming that an internal investigation is underway. Citing privacy laws, the facility declined to answer any questions about why Wells was discharged or what staff assessed that night. Some viewers who recounted their own birthing experiences were shocked by the treatment the nurse exhibited in the video. "When I showed up to L&D with my first, the nurse bypassed the receptionist to get me in a room just by looking at me, and I wasn't near as CLEARLY about to give birth as this woman," one Reddit user wrote. "This is insane. When she said something about her a**, I totally understood what she meant and any nurse should have known that means that baby is about to eject itself." Atlanta Black Star has reached out to Dallas Regional Medical Center for comment.
