The family reports, they were turned away from the hospital, the baby was born at a gas station: “She was denied admittance to labor”

The family says they were turned away from the hospital, the baby was born at a gas station. According to the family, a mother gave birth to her son between pumps four and five at a gas station in North Carolina after being turned down by the hospital.

Lauren Banks and her husband, Steve Banks, went to CarolinaEast at 39 weeks and contracted to bring their son into the world. “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,” the father told WITN.

He claimed he enlisted the help of a neighbor to watch their sleeping daughter, and the couple returned to the hospital an hour later after being turned down.

It took them about 30 minutes to get from their house to CarolinaEast, but Baby Banks had no intention of slowing down. Steve and an EMT delivered the baby at a Handy Mart gas station on the way to the hospital.

“I watched my wife give birth to my son right there in the parking lot,” Steve said. “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.” Just as he was about to arrive, emergency services pulled into the parking lot.

“They came up and saw what was happening and jumped into action,” recalled Banks. “I’m sure that they are a large part of the reason why everything went as smoothly as it did and there were no complications. I can’t thank them enough.”

The family was then taken by ambulance to CarolinaEast. When the parents questioned the hospital’s prior decision, the hospital allegedly offered to detail their car in return. CarolinaEast was interviewed by WITN about what happened.

The hospital system said in part, “CarolinaEast Health System cannot legally comment on patient matters or concerns. We internally follow all protocols and guidelines for such concerns but cannot publicly comment on them.”

The hospital system added on Tuesday that they would not turn anyone away and that the pregnant woman had been evaluated by an obstetrician.

“Unfortunately babies don’t always cooperate with expectations…we’ve all heard stories of newborns making debuts in homes, cars, restaurants, and even gas stations. The Banks’ baby certainly made an unexpected entrance, but we are so happy he is healthy and precious and absolutely wish the family all the best!” the hospital system said.

This is the mother’s second child. When she tried to get a bed at CarolinaEast, she said she was four centimeters dilated, but they wouldn’t consider her for admission until she was five centimeters.

Truett Lee Banks, a newborn, is currently being treated for jaundice but is otherwise healthy.