With all of the advances in healthcare and technology these days, you would assume that handing over a baby to the correct mother would be a basic and simple procedure – not so, it would seem, in a number of cases in New South Wales, Australia.
Minister for Health Jillian Skinner issued a statement this week revealing that, in the past five years, seven newborn babies have been handed over to the wrong mothers for nursing in hospital. All seven incidents took place in public hospitals.
Sharing the shocking statistic yesterday, Minister Skinner tried to play down the severity of the situation, describing it as “extremely rare”.
“Almost 10,000 babies are born in New South Wales public hospitals each year, and over the past five years there were seven occasions where this error occurred. The error was soon discovered,” she said.
She added that, where the error arose, “immediate serological tests and breast milk screening” were carried out. Mothers who endured the traumatic experience were later offered counselling and support.
Minister Skinner was also quick to assure families that strict protocols are in place to cross-check the identities of mothers with their babies.
