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911 call captures panic after woman in labor turned away by Indiana hospital gives birth in pickup truck

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Suzanne Le Mignot
Suzanne Le Mignot
Anchor/Reporter
Suzanne Le Mignot serves as CBS2 Chicago's weekend news morning anchor and weekday reporter.
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Suzanne Le Mignot

/ CBS Chicago

Audio from a frantic father-to-be's 911 call sheds new light on the panic and confusion after a woman in labor was turned away from an Indiana hospital, ultimately giving birth in a car almost immediately after being cast aside.

The woman was turned away from Franciscan Health Crown Point over the weekend. A video that went viral showed her being wheeled out by hospital staff, in clear distress. Her family told doctors she was in active labor, but hospital staff told her that because she was only dilated three centimeters, she would have to come back later.

"I had to keep myself from crying because I didn't want nothing to happen to my wife or my baby. That was my biggest concern," Leon Wells told CBS News Chicago.

Wells' wife, Mercedes, ultimately gave birth eight minutes after leaving the hospital. Officials later confirmed that a doctor and nurse had been dismissed from their positions as a result of the incident.

"I was frustrated through the whole thing, you know, as far as us having to repeat ourselves as I'm telling her, asking for help," Leon Wells said.

In response to the call taker repeatedly asking Leon Wells where he was, the executive director of Lake County 911 told CBS News Chicago that the dispatcher was being given a route number and not a mile marker, as requested. The call was then transferred to the Indiana State Police. A minute and a half after Leon Wells first said the baby had been born, the voice on the other end of the line asked, "How far apart are her contractions?"

"It was pointless to call, that's how I kind of see it," Mercedes Wells said. "However, I'm glad that we, you know, we were able to get it to where, you know, get it on tape so the world can really hear what we were experiencing at the time."

The couple hung up with that dispatcher and called 911 again, this time arriving at a totally different outcome: a team waiting for the family at Community Hospital in Munster when they pulled up.

The executive director of Lake County 911 says there was a lot of confusion in the call, which created the unfortunate situation. The employee was given some coaching to handle those types of calls more efficiently in the future.

CBS News Chicago has reached out to the Indiana State Police and has not yet heard back.

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