This would be every new mum’s worst nightmare no doubt – and one Australian mother recently had to live it.
Only hours after Stefanie Phillips gave birth to her first child, Ellie, in New South Wales’ Gosford Hospital in August of this year, the newborn was taken into the maternity nursery to provide the new mother with some rest. The same was done for the woman in the hospital bed next to Philips, who had also given birth to a baby girl that same day.
Then what should not happen happened. Because after a couple of hours, baby Ellie was returned to the room, but given to the wrong mother, who proceeded to breastfeed the infant – while her own daughter remained in the hospital nursery.
When the horrifying mistake was discovered, a midwife broke the news to Phillips, who naturally was devastated to discover her newborn had been breastfed by a stranger.
“I was told the other mother has breastfed your daughter for two hours and got photos with her … skin-on-skin, did everything I wanted to do with her,” Phillips told Australia’s Seven News.
“I was very overwhelmed, I had just become a new mum. I didn’t know what to say in that situation.”
Maternal blood tests was carried out on both mothers to screen for any possible medical adverse effects that could have been passed onto the baby breastfed by the wrong mother, but luckily it seems baby Ellie was not exposed to any health risks as a result of the mix-up.
Tragically, Phillips has not been able to get Ellie to take her breast since the incident and has been bottle feeding her formula.
It appears the mix-up was a result of identification bracelets on the newborn babies not being cross-checked against the mother’s name. Both families have received apologies in-person from senior staff of the Central Coast Local Health District.
According to the authorities, midwifery staff at the hospital will receive procedure matching training to ensure policies on separating mothers and babies, as well as identification, are reinforced.
Wow, while letting a new mama get her rest is important, I think this story will make any new mum feel that little bit more scared of letting her new baby out of her eyesight!
