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Congress Acts After Woman Gives Birth in Car
25 Nov
Summary
- Bill requires hospitals to create labor discharge plans.
- Incident occurred after a woman was sent home from hospital.
- Legislation addresses racial disparities in maternal care.
The Women Expansion for Learning and Labor Safety Act (WELLS Act) is heading to Congress, seeking to ensure expectant mothers in active labor are not sent home from hospitals. This initiative was spurred by a recent event where a woman, Mercedes Wells, gave birth in her truck minutes after being discharged from an Indiana hospital. Her experience highlighted critical issues in maternal care.
This proposed legislation would mandate that hospitals providing obstetric or labor services implement a 'Safe Discharge Labor Plan' before discharging any patient exhibiting signs of labor. Such a plan must include clinical justification for discharge, assessment of travel conditions, and confirmation of patient understanding. Furthermore, the WELLS Act includes provisions for mandatory racial bias training for healthcare professionals.
The WELLS Act aims to tackle systemic problems in maternal healthcare, particularly the disproportionately higher mortality rates and instances of mistreatment faced by Black women. The hospital involved in Wells' case has apologized and implemented new internal policies, including physician examination before discharge and cultural competency training for staff, but the legislative action seeks broader, national change.
