Wrong mom breastfeeds baby in hospital mixup

by Suranee | April 5, 2009 at 04:03 am

1552 views | 0 Recommendations | 10 comments

A nurse at Portsmouth Regional Hospital's maternity ward gave the wrong baby, a one-day old baby girl, to another mother to breastfeed.

PORTSMOUTH — It is "every parent's worst nightmare," the man on the phone said in a trembling voice.

This nightmare happened in the seemingly safe, comfortable setting of Portsmouth Regional Hospital's maternity ward. This nightmare shattered the joy of a young couple celebrating the birth of their first child.

A newborn baby girl was mistakenly given by a nurse to another mother on the fifth-floor maternity ward, and that mother breast-fed the day-old infant. The incident, which Portsmouth Regional Hospital admits, occurred in late March.

Hospital officials "don't think that this is a big deal type of thing," said the father, who requested anonymity. "It's a huge deal."

The parents of the baby have to wait for results of a Hepatitis C test on their baby. Then, they must wait six more months before their baby can be conclusively tested for HIV infection, as breast-feeding can transmit the virus that causes AIDS.

The baby's parents, a 29-year-old father and 28-year-old mother from Portsmouth, first have to wait for results of a Hepatitis C test on their baby. Then, they must wait six more months before their baby can be conclusively tested for HIV infection, as breast-feeding can transmit the virus that causes AIDS.

Scientific studies place odds of HIV transmission through a single breast-feeding session at a fraction of a percent. A research project presented at the International Conference on AIDS in July 2000 placed the probability of breast milk transmission of HIV-1 per liter ingested at .00073 for infants. However, statistics do not always deliver comfort.

According to the father, hospital records state the baby was with the wrong mother for five minutes, but he and his wife met the other couple and believe it was much longer.

"We asked her point blank how long was our baby in her care. She said a 'significant amount of time,'" the father said.

The father and his wife demanded the hospital's video surveillance be used to determine the time their baby was with the wrong mother. They were told it would take some time to do so.

"They're falling back on that it was only five minutes versus 20 minutes, and that is up to one person's recollection of time," the father said.

Either way, it was enough for the baby to breast-feed.

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nbaeker (not verified)

at 11:24 on April 6th, 2009

The father and his wife demanded the hospital's video surveillance be used to determine the time their baby was with the wrong mother.

From this sentence, I feel that the baby must already have a step-mother and the biological mother mustn't be that upset about it.

If this is such a big issue to people, then let's change the hospital policy to that of keeping the babies with mum. That would solve a fair number of mix-ups, if they never took your baby away from you.

Suranee

at 07:25 on April 10th, 2009

You do make a valid point when you say that hospitals should consider keeping the baby with the mother. When I had my daughter, she was born in the States. I remember asking the nurse to let me keep my daughter in the same room with me. But what she told me was that my baby had to be kept in the baby room because her cries might disturb the mother I was sharing the same room with.

Here in Sri lanka, babies are usually kept with their mother, as in my case when I had my son. I haven't come across any stories on babies being given to the wrong mother here, but still, there may have been cases where it has happenned.

momma of 6 (not verified)

at 12:22 on April 6th, 2009

What I can't understand is the fact that the one mother didn't realize that it wasn't her baby. What is wrong that a person can't identify their own child? That should be the issue..... I knew what my children looked like the moment they were born.

I totally agree that maybe women should be happy to have their children with them right from the moment of birth..... then there wouldn't be mix ups...

Suranee

at 07:32 on April 10th, 2009

It does seem strange that the mother did not know that she was breastfeeding another person's baby.

It was the same with me. I knew exactly what my daughter and son looked like as soon as they were handed over to me when they were born.

I do agree with you that a mother should be allowed to have her baby with her from the time her baby is born but I guess hospitals have a valid reason for not allowing that to happen.

Ashley M. (not verified)

at 17:47 on April 7th, 2009

Now that this has happened in a hospital setting, this makes you think on what else they are not checking like lab results or what blood is to be taken from certain patients. A little scary if you ask me because now medical records are not being double checked.

Suranee

at 07:46 on April 10th, 2009

You're right, it is scary.

been there (not verified)

at 05:23 on April 10th, 2009

I happened to me. Happens more often than you think. In our case both babies were nursed by the wrong mother - although in other countries this is common - Wet Nurse. There were enough similarities in the babies to not cause much concern. Everything turned out fine - the switch was discovered, corrected, and everyone is fine. The testing of the babies is a precaution, but they know the mother's medical records so there know if there is really a reason for concern. We are all human and accidents happen.

Suranee

at 07:51 on April 10th, 2009

I'm glad both your babies are fine after what happened. You're absolutely right, we are all humans and accidents do happen.

Janette, RN (not verified)

at 06:17 on April 10th, 2009

This just happened to my 3 month old son 1 week into daycare. He was mistaken for another baby in the class and was given the other childs breastmilk. I have read the above responses and being investigating many things this week from the possible transmission of communicable diseases, the reporting process and how it is handled. This is a huge deal. It is not like taking home the wrong baby. This can be corrected. If a child contracts a life threatening disease it can not be corrected. What I have found out is that there is a lack of education in every level I have gone through this week. This is from the daycare, healthcare provider, child and family services... I was told comments like it was only a little breast milk, oh honey, this it fine, it was a accident and we don't do anything about it. If I were not a registered nurse and educated in transmission of communicable diseases and testing I may have just said "ok". A good example was Starsky's wife in real life (For those of you who remember the show Starsky and Hutch). His wife was given a blood transfusion following delivery of their daughter (keep in mind that testing for blood is very different now). She contracted HIV without knowing it. She took care of her baby and went on with life and breastfeeding. Starsky lost both his wife and daughter to HIV. The daughter contacted it from the breast milk. We must change the way this is handled. People are human but we must put system in place that this can not happen ever......