Joydrop Baby & Wellness

What Is the WELLS Act?

On November 25, 2025, Robin Kelly (D-Illinois) introduced The WELLS Act named for Mercedes Wells, the Black mother whose story sparked a wave of outrage and urgent calls for reform. TheGrio+2Becker’s Hospital Review+2. The WELLS Act would require every hospital (or health facility) that offers obstetric, emergency, or labor and delivery services, including birthing centers, rural clinics, emergency-care facilities, and community health centers — to adopt a “Safe Discharge Labor Plan” before sending home any patient showing signs or symptoms of labor. Black Enterprise+2Becker’s Hospital Review+2

Why This Bill Is Desperately Needed

The bill was prompted by Mercedes Wells’s experience: at one Indiana hospital, she contacted staff when her contractions were about 10 minutes apart, was admitted for several hours, but was told to go home with no doctor ever assessing her. Less than 10 minutes after leaving, she gave birth in the car. TheGrio+2Yahoo+2. The hospital has since fired the doctor and nurse involved. But the tragedy points to a deeper, systemic problem. As supporters of the bill note: this likely isn’t an isolated incident. Far too many women particularly Black women report being dismissed, ignored, or discharged while in distress.

Systemic Racial Disparities in Maternal Care, The WELLS Act is explicitly designed with recognition of how discrimination overt and subtle leads to unequal care. According to its sponsor, one objective is to combat racial bias in maternal health, ensuring that every woman’s concerns are heard and treated with respect. If hospitals are required to document clinical reasoning, assess safety and transportation, and confirm that the patient understands discharge risks, there is less room for dismissive practices rooted in prejudice or cost-cutting.

What the WELLS Act Would Require, Concrete Protections:

Under the WELLS Act, any discharge of a laboring patient would trigger a formal “Safe Discharge Labor Plan” that includes at least the following:

• Clinical justification — the hospital must document why discharge, rather than admitting or monitoring, is clinically safe.
• Assessment of risks — including travel distance and time to the next available facility, transportation availability, and whether there is a backup hospital or birthing center in case labor progresses quickly.
• Patient understanding — hospitals must ensure that the patient fully understands the risks, the discharge instructions, and signs of labor progression.
• Racial-bias training and cultural competency — the bill mandates training for healthcare professionals to address implicit bias and improve equitable maternal care under the new discharge protocol.

Importantly, the WELLS Act’s protections would apply broadly not only large hospitals, but also rural and community birthing centers, emergency-care clinics, tribal health programs, and federally qualified health centers. Black Enterprise+1, Becker’s Hospital Review+1

What It Means in the Broader Context of Maternal Health

The WELLS Act comes at a moment when maternal health especially for Black women is under national scrutiny. Disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality have long plagued the U.S., and many experts attribute part of the problem to unequal treatment, systemic neglect, and the devaluation of women’s pain. By instituting a clear, enforceable standard for when it is and is not acceptable to discharge a laboring patient, the WELLS Act has the potential to reduce the number of dangerous, traumatic deliveries that occur outside safe medical settings (cars, hallways, emergency rooms, parking lots). It could also hold hospitals accountable when they fail to live up to basic standards of care and dignity. Moreover, because the bill extends to rural clinics and smaller centers often underfunded and overstretched it could help protect birthing people in communities that suffer from hospital closures, scarce maternity services, and limited access to quality care.

What’s Next, What to Watch & What You Can Do

• The WELLS Act is set to be formally introduced in the new session of Congress, after the Thanksgiving 2025 recess. Becker’s Hospital Review+1
• If passed, hospitals will need to revise discharge protocols, develop labor-discharge plans, and implement staff training meaning real change at the institutional level.
• As public awareness grows, advocates and communities can support the bill by contacting their representatives, sharing stories of maternal-health injustice, and amplifying the voices of those who’ve been harmed.

You can help: share information about the WELLS Act, especially among pregnant people, doulas, birth-justice organizations, and community leaders so that people know their rights and can demand accountability.

In Conclusion, A Step Toward Dignity, Safety & Equity

The story of Mercedes Wells forced to give birth in a car because a hospital turned her away should have never happened and should never happen again. The WELLS Act offers more than a symbolic gesture: it demands accountability and clarity. It says that hospitals must earn the trust of every woman who comes to them in pain, fear, and hope it is their duty to provide them with adequate care. If enacted, this bill could vastly improve maternal-health outcomes, especially for communities long neglected by the healthcare system. It would stand as a statement: every birthing person regardless of race, zip code, or background deserves compassionate, safe, professional care when bringing new life into the world. Now is the time to pay attention, speak up, and support the change because every woman deserves to have a happy and healthy birthing experience.