- A North Carolina man said his wife was turned away from their local hospital when she was in labor.
- Steve Banks told WITN he helped deliver his baby at a nearby gas station.
- The hospital, CarolinaEast Medical Center, said Lauren Banks was evaluated by a doctor.
A North Carolina man said a local hospital turned away his wife, who was in labor, resulting in her giving birth at a nearby gas station just one hour later.
Steve Banks told WITN that he and his wife, Lauren Banks, who was 39 weeks pregnant, arrived at CarolinaEast Medical Center late last month to check in to deliver the baby.
"She was denied admittance to labor and delivery a couple of times, and she was in obvious pain and labor, and within 30 minutes of her being home her water broke," Steve Banks told the outlet.
When the couple was rushing back to the hospital, Lauren Banks gave birth to their son mid-trip, WITN reported that their baby was born between between pumps four and five at Handy Mart gas station, with the help of an EMT.
"I watched my wife give birth to my son right there in the parking lot," Banks said, per the outlet. "He came out and he was purple, and he wasn't making a lot of noise. I was concerned on top of everything else going on."
According to the WITN report, first responders arrived in the parking lot shortly after the baby's delivery and transported the family back to Carolina East — the same hospital the couple said they were denied admittance to.
Representatives for CarolinaEast Medical Center did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment. But the hospital told WITN in a statement that it "cannot legally comment on patient matters or concerns," adding that Lauren Banks was "evaluated" by an obstetrician.
Lauren Banks said she wouldn't be considered for admittance into the establishment because she was only four centimeters dilated. The hospital offered to detail the Banks' car, and the family accepted, the report said.