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Moms Accidentally Breastfed The Wrong Babies; Could This Happen To Anyone?
The Sydney Morning Herald reported yesterday that staff at an Australian hospital accidentally switched two newborns, giving them to the wrong mothers to care for. Eight and a half hours went by before the mix-up was discovered, during which time both babies were breastfed by the wrong mother. From the story:
The hospital has confirmed ‘‘human error’’ was to blame, as a staff member failed to check the babies’ name bracelets when they were removed from their cots in the hospital’s special care nursery.
‘‘[It] is just a terrible tragedy and it’s come to a great shock to us and the families involved,’’ Mr Roberts told radio 3AW.
This story, and the hospital’s response, has raised a few questions in my mind. Okay, five questions:
- Do you think you’d know if a baby given to you wasn’t actually yours? I know newborns look pretty similar, but I’ve seen a lot of just-born babies in my life in addition to my own five, and there always seem to be some defining characteristics – size, amount of hair, etc. Also, when our babies were newly born, we spent a lot of time emailing photos, uploading them to our computers, etc; so we would have photographic proof of what our babies looked like immediately after birth!
- On the other hand, the mix-up did happen at 6:30 A.M., when no parent is at his or her most alert. Which makes me wonder: at what point did each set of parents start to realize something wasn’t right, and how long did it take from that point to get reunited with the “right” baby?
- Did you ever doubt if the baby the nurse handed you was the “right” one, and if so did you say anything about it? I’m wondering if nurses are trained to take those concerns seriously or if it’s something they hear all the time.
- Is this really a “tragedy”? I can appreciate that the hospital CEO was eager to take the blame and validate that switching up babies is a Big Deal, but I’m not sure “tragedy” is quite the right word for spending time with – and even breastfeeding – the wrong baby. Don’t get me wrong, I’d be upset if it happened to me, but I’m not sure exactly how upset.
- Would it bother you if another mother breastfed your baby or if you accidentally breastfed somebody else’s baby? I would be bummed about missing out on bonding time with my own baby, but wouldn’t be freaked out about the fact that my baby had had somebody else’s breastmilk unless there was a pretty compelling reason (like the the other mom was a heroin addict, for example.)
How would you feel if you were one of these mothers? Have you ever had an experience of being handed the wrong baby at the hospital?
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12 Comments
Sarah P commented on Jul 19 11 at 6:22 pmMeh. I’d be upset the hospital screwed up & I’d be upset about the loss of bonding time, but I think it’s far from a tragedy. I think maybe it’d be beneficial to the babies – they probably get some additional antibodies.
mama b commented on Jul 19 11 at 6:28 pmHey at least they figured it out before it was really too late. It’s breastmilk, not poison. This is why hospitals should let new mothers room in with their babies. Where I had both my children that is the norm, they don’t even have a traditional nursery, unless a child needs some special care. Once a baby is born it stays with mom in her room, it makes everything so much easier and no one is going to be giving you the wrong baby.
BC commented on Jul 19 11 at 6:47 pmTHIS IS NOT A TRAGEDY
grace commented on Jul 19 11 at 6:53 pmI happened to me. Everyone was fine. It wasn’t really a big deal.
Denise commented on Jul 19 11 at 9:48 pmDidn’t this happen to Pam on the office? She finally got her child to latch on and was so happy, and then realized it was her roomie’s newborn. Hilarity ensued, of course. Tragedy is certainly the wrong word, and it sounds funny coming from an Aussie; they’re generally not as “everything is SO important!” as Americans tend to be!
For me, I find it hard-to-impossible happening; I feel like my sons’ faces were indelibly familiar from the moment I saw them. But I guess someone else could have nursed at least my second without my knowledge (the first roomed in with me).
Denise
Angela commented on Jul 20 11 at 12:28 amNewborns do have some defining characteristics but I imagine that this wasn’t a case where one had a full head of hair and another was practically bald. They probably were pretty similar in appearance. Also, if they were just born the mothers may have only had brief contact with them before the mix up and may not have had time yet to commit each little feature to memory. When my first son was in the hospital I went over to the nursery where he was having his exam and thought the baby I could see through the window was mine. It wasn’t, but they really did look a lot alike.
Erika commented on Jul 20 11 at 6:42 pmIt’s not a tragedy as long as both moms are healthy. If not, it’s a potential tragedy. I think it’s the potential, the what ifs, that makes this scary, not the reality of this particular situation.
But, yeah, the administrators wording was over the top.
hwinters commented on Jul 20 11 at 7:29 pmThat’s why my babies were never let out of mine or my husbands sight. I would be upset for sure.
Voice Of Reason commented on Jul 21 11 at 2:14 amWell, I guess this could have happened if I had one of those generic-looking babies, but my babies were really special and stood out amongst all the other babies.
Just kidding, of course.
I had my babes at a birth centre with no nursery, so my babies never left my sight. Plus, they were both born with a full head of crazy almost-black hair so they actually were fairly distinctive. Especially to me!
If I’d been in a different situation and something like this had occurred, I’d like to think I’d react in the way that the well-named above poster, Grace, did.
katie commented on Jul 25 11 at 10:26 amAs a soon-to-graduate nursing student, but not a mother, I can tell you that in the US nurses definitely take these things seriously. As some commenters pointed out, it is not a tragedy unless the other mother had HIV or was a drug addict (there are only a very few reasons NOT to breastfeed) but since she was breastfeeding her own baby, we can assume she is healthy and therefore in terms of health, it is no big deal. However, the fact that the nurse was negligent when returning the baby to the bedside, is a big deal. Arm bands on both mother and baby should be checked EVERY time mom and baby are reunited. Even if mom recognizes baby or you just took baby from the room and you recognize mom, you must check! Where I work in the Boston area, many L & D floors put musical bands on mom and baby. When the correct match is made, a little tune plays. If the wrong people are put together, you are given a warning. These type of bracelets also sound an alarm when baby gets too close to an exit to help prevent abduction.
Emily commented on Jul 26 11 at 9:59 amTragedy? no. Bigger tragedy if your baby was getting handed a bottle in another room and you wanted to breastfeed.
But I’d be upset with the hospital and I’d probably make a big stink just because it’s really not acceptable for a nurse to just not read the bracelets.
I am very glad my hospital didn’t have a nursery though. It was very important to me that no one ever took my baby away from me.
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