D.K. And Tree Podcast
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D.K. And Tree Podcast
Turned Away In Labor: A Community Demands Accountability
A laboring mother walked into a hospital for help and, minutes after being discharged, delivered her baby in a car. That jarring contrast—between the promise of care and the reality of dismissal—became the spark for a wider conversation about trust, duty, and what happens when institutions fail the people they’re designed to serve.
We walk through the timeline, from wheelchair to roadside delivery, and examine the key breakdowns: missing physician evaluation, absent monitoring, and a decision that contradicted what her body was clearly saying. Along the way, we talk about the standards patients should expect in active labor, the obligations hospitals carry to screen and stabilize, and why listening to patients is a core clinical skill, not a courtesy. The family’s words—violated, unheard, dismissed—echo across communities who have experienced similar moments, especially women of color who face higher rates of neglect and poor outcomes.
This conversation isn’t just outrage; it’s a plan. We explore practical steps families can take to advocate at the bedside, how to document care refusals, and when to escalate concerns. We also discuss the impact of viral accountability, the role of state and federal complaints, and how consumer choices—appointments, insurance networks, and referrals—can move hospital policies faster than press releases. Most of all, we center the idea that collective power changes outcomes when it’s paired with clear demands: respect patient voice, enforce triage standards, and make leadership accountable when harm occurs.
If this story moves you, help amplify it. Share the episode, subscribe for updates, and leave a review with the one change you want hospitals to implement now. Your voice helps turn a headline into a turning point.
Good evening, good evening. I hope everyone has had a great day today. I hope that your day's going good, and I hope that you are just blessed and prosperous. But it's your boy Damon. I'm here with the DK and Tree Podcast. Man, y'all level of tomfoolery out here is just on some new level shit. Okay, new level. And I someone just told me about this story, and I just had to research about it. And I, you know something? I always love to play, so I'm gonna play this, let you hear it, and then we're gonna talk about this one.
SPEAKER_03:She would have to come back later. Her sister-in-law, Sharice Joy Thompson, says they were visiting family in Indiana, and the baby wasn't due for another couple of weeks.
SPEAKER_02:I feel like my family's rights have been violated.
SPEAKER_03:She says, eight minutes after being discharged from Franciscan Health in Crown Point, the baby was born in the car.
SPEAKER_02:She said, I gotta push. And so he ripped, he was driving with one hand, ripped her pants off with the other hand, and looked down, and he said he could see the baby's head. And he was like, Oh my god, here's the baby's head. He like grabbed a blanket, caught the baby, and then put the baby on um my sister-in-law's chest, Mercedes' chest, and the umbilical, everything was still attached, and they kept on driving.
SPEAKER_03:She says they're grateful for the staff at community hospital where the family is now.
SPEAKER_02:911 was able to call the hospital and give them notice that they were coming. And so there were 15 doctors and nurses outside waiting for them to arrive. She called her brother a hero. He was able to, you know, be calm and deliver his baby in that kind of like pressure. She shared how her sister-in-law is feeling right now. So when I went to the hospital yesterday, when I opened up the door, Mercedes saw me, she just started crying because she she feels she feels violated, she feels unhurt, you know, she feels dismissed.
SPEAKER_00:She feels dismissed, she feels horrible that a hospital would discharge her, and she's an active later, labor. And you telling me, your hospital staff, you have to take care of all your patients, no matter what color they are, no matter what their identity is, no matter what their sexual orientation is, no matter what anything is, you have an obligation to take care of anyone that steps foot in a hospital. No ifs, no ands, no buts. But you turned this woman that was an active labor away. And she went down the road with her husband and gave birth to the baby in a car no more than five minutes away from the hospital. And you tell me this is acceptable today? And this happened up in Indiana, and again, this got me fired up in outrage about this. That this woman had to give birth in a car when she went to a hospital and they turned her away. I am sorry for yelling because I don't usually get this loud. But how unacceptable is that in 2025?
SPEAKER_01:We have to deal with this. I can see if this was back in the day. But we talking modern day, modern time. And this shit's still going on.
SPEAKER_00:And I'm not saying that I don't know what the circumstances was, but you turned them away and she had a baby five minutes later. And y'all said that she wasn't dilated enough. But y'all didn't even check her out. No doctor saw her. Y'all pushed her in the wheelchair and just pushed her about the door. This is terrible. And it's happened in Indiana. Indiana. Let me look at the hospital. Said discharge from Francesca Health Crown Point from Indiana. This is terrible. And you see, I'm glad that someone recorded this. I'm glad that the news has got involved. I'm glad that they're pushing this message out here because this shit needs to stop.
SPEAKER_01:This is unacceptable. Someone coming in to get medical care and you turnt them away. Having a baby. Having a baby. And you turnt them away? Where we do that at?
SPEAKER_00:Well, I guess uh Indiana. I guess I guess that we do it at. I guess some other places too. But did Indiana, you on the hot sheet right now. For this one. That hospital anyway. That you turn these people away. This is sad. Again, unacceptable. Should have never happened. But it did. Remember when I talk on some of my podcasts, I say it is power in what you do. Just like when y'all stood up and voted, it was power in what you did. You still got to send another message that is power in what we do. No matter who you are, what color you are, what sexual orientation you are, it is power in what you do. And you have to stand up to it. And when you stand up to it, things change. In this instance, y'all gonna have to stand up to it. I guarantee you, if people stop going to that hospital, if people stop giving their insurance money to that hospital, should have changed. And that's what we have to do make a change. Especially in an injustice. This woman should have never had her child in a car. I can understand if they didn't make it to the hospital, but they did, and they kicked them out of there.
SPEAKER_01:This is sad. I'm outraged because it shouldn't have never happened, but it does.
SPEAKER_00:You know, we're in this modern age of technology. This modern age, and cameras are everywhere, everywhere, and people will record. See, here's the thing: you don't want to be the next viral video, because that video is viral. You can look it up. Just when I looked up the story, it said five hours ago it was posted. This is viral. So guess what? Your name of your hospital is now out there for everyone. But I want to try to follow up with this story too, because I want to see the damage control they try to do for this one. I definitely want to see what they have to say after this. Because again, going into a hospital, you can't turn no one away. That's just like, what if she'd have made it to the firehouse? They can't turn her away.
SPEAKER_01:They have to treat her, help her, and they would have taken her to a hospital. But you telling me I go to a hospital for care and you turn me away? What does that say about your hospital staff?
SPEAKER_00:What does that say about your hospital? What does that say about the people that's running your hospital? This is the message that we're sending? That we're sending you away? That we don't care about you? We don't care if you come to the doors. Hey, we don't feel like taking you. Get on up out of here. You go someplace else. Unbelievable. Unacceptable. I said this all the time. It's power in us. And we have to stand up to injustice. We have to. Because if we don't, it'll keep happening. Like I said when the elections happened. Last one I did, it was power in you all. Because y'all changed the narrative. Y'all standing up to what you think is injustice.
SPEAKER_01:You're fighting. That's what we gotta do. We all have to fight. Stick together. But again, this is truly, truly a story that just hurt my heart tonight.
SPEAKER_00:I am a loss for words for this. And especially being a public servant. Because if I would have turned someone away in a time of need, I'd be in trouble. I'd be in trouble. Let's see if they be held accountable for that. With germs. All the elements out there. But she did what she had to do to protect her child. The best way she could. And now this is the recourse. Oh, trust and believe I'm going to be watching the news to keep up with that story. Because I definitely want to hear what that hospital has to say. I'm really outraged about this. I am going to go ahead and sign off a little bit. I appreciate each and every last one of you that listen to me, talk to me, download the show. Again, I always told you, this ain't my show, this is ours. Anything that's going on, anything you want me to talk about, I'll talk about it for you. Emails DK and TreePodcast at Yahoo.com. Send me a message. I will get back with you. If you're listening and you download on Buzz Sprout, you can send me a message there too. There's plenty of ways to get in touch with me. I want each and every last one of you to always be safe. Be careful in what you're doing. But stand up to this injustice. Because this should not be happening in 2025. I'm going to sign off.
