Please help us raise awareness and Congressional Support for the Women Expansion for Learning and Labor Safety (WELLS) Act, critical legislation requiring any hospital that provides obstetric, emergency, or labor and delivery services to develop and implement a Safe Discharge Labor Plan. The plan, at minimum, must include a clinical justification for discharge, assessment of travel distance, an identified back-up hospital or birthing facility, verification of reliable transportation, and documentation of patient understanding. The legislation also includes access to racial bias training for all healthcare professionals.  This legislation, introduced in the House of Representatives by Congresswoman Robin Kelly (D-IL), is a result of the shameful and disrespectful treatment endured by both the Wells Family and the Jones Family. 

The American College of Nurse-Midwives denounces the disrespectful, callous care given to The Wells Family and Jones Family and ardently supports diversification of the maternal health workforce, including Midwives of Color, as a response to the maternal health crisis.

Not only do Black women in the United States experience 3x the death of White women, but as per the most recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data (2023), women from multiracial backgrounds experience mistreatment, with one out of three (30%) Black, Hispanic and multiracial women reporting disrespectful behavior.  Disrespectful behavior has been identified as: 

• Receiving no response to requests for help.
• Being shouted at or scolded.
• Not having their physical privacy protected.
• Being threatened with withholding treatment or made to accept unwanted treatment.
   

The WELLS Act aims to improve maternal health outcomes for Black women by requiring hospitals to implement safety measures for childbirth.