I've just read this article, linked here:
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25350189-2,00.html
I must say I'm a little surprised. Not surprised that hospitals have tagged the wrong babies, or brought mothers the wrong babies from the nursery. I can totally see how that would happen from time to time. The ankle ID tags that my Tinker had when she was born would often fall off all the time in the hospital.
What surprises me is this bit:In one case, a mother had to have HIV and other tests after being given the wrong baby to breastfeed.
So the nurse hands the mother the baby (the wrong baby) and the mother attaches the baby and feeds him/her. How could the mother NOT see that it wasn't her child?
Is it just me, or does that seem strange to you? I mean the minute I saw my daughter's face I recognised her. Not from the weird squiggly ultrasound images I'd seen but just... because. If you had taken her off me, even 5 minutes after giving birth (when it was fair to say I was in one heck of a state) I still would have known right away if you'd brought back the wrong kid!
There is no way I could have looked at her face as I fed her and not realised.Is it because my Tinker had a mop of flaming red hair? The only baby with hair that colour in the nursery? No. It was just that as soon as I saw her, I knew who she was. Sounds completely soppy and irrational. I know.
And I'm definitely not one for soppy or romantic. But that is the honest truth. Tell me, are there any other mothers out there who agree with me on this one? Isn't it odd?!
Odd, YES! But in some ways understandable... Maybe the mother was out of it while giving birth. Maybe she was sooo wiped that she wasnt aware of what the baby looked like to begin with???
ReplyDeletei totally agree.....
ReplyDeleteI have just read bits and pieces of your blog and seems like fun. I will be visiting once in a while. I shall not speak about the mom in this story but I KNOW that I would have known my baby even if I was crazed out of my head on giving birth. Some things are just instinctive I guess. But then again, I speak for myself
ReplyDeleteI just had a baby a couple weeks and had an irrational fear of baby mix-up. I found myself taking note of the little stork bites, hair follicles, anything to help me know that this is MY baby. But there was that internal sense you mention - he couldn't be anyone else's.
ReplyDeleteit really could be a honest mistake... hey, it's weird, but these things happen.
ReplyDeleteI'm so relieved that you brought that up. I mean, all babies look alike to me ... except for mine (that's the only way I can think of to say it). I cannot imagine, after perusing my newborn's face, taking in her father's nose and my lips and ears that clearly come from a little deeper in the gene pool, that I would not realize that it wasn't her even if a nurse handed a bundled up baby and said it was.
ReplyDeleteYes, this is a bit odd, but honestly when I had my boys I had heard horror stories about babies being mixed up so I was always skeptical when my baby was taken from the room and brought back. I would look him over to make sure it was still my baby. With my second son, I actually second guessed myself- wondering if it really was still him. Because his head had gotten more...uh...regular. You know, how babies sometimes have strange shapes when they're born because of being squashed. I did eventually decide it was really him but I can honestly say, if the baby looked like hers, I would understand her feeding it. Especially if it was crying because it was hungry. I would have thought, "awe, I must be seeing things- this is my baby...of course." and fed him. It's scary how much we have to trust the system sometimes. As for you- I'm very impressed that you can tell right away when babies can change so drastically in the hours after birth!
ReplyDeleteThat is bizarre. I would like to think I would recognize that I had the wrong baby!
ReplyDeleteI could tell from my daughter's breath that something had changed while she was in the nursery - they had given her sugar water to calm her down and she spit up because of it - and she smelled different when I got her back. There was no residue on her clothes or face, she just smelled different. I would have been able to smell it - let alone see it - if they had given me the wrong baby. ;-)
ReplyDeleteEven if I had only seen my baby once, I am sure I would have recognized him/her. Giving the benefit of doubt, though, maybe the babies looked somewhat alike or that was the very first visit with the baby. More to the point, what is going on in that hospital?
ReplyDeletelet's give that mother the benefit of the doubt and say that she saw that the baby wasn't hers, but the nurses insisted it was?
ReplyDeleteThis is why rooming in with your baby is so imporant! My baby never left my side when I had him in the hospital. Actually, I was told a story about 2 babies that were accidentally swapped in the hospital that I gave birth in (hasn't hit the papers yet!....), where the father went to change the nappy of his newborn 'boy', after the mother had fed the baby (again I dont get that you wouldnt recognise your own baby), and the father looked down at where the boy bits should be, and apparently yelled out "his penis has fallen off!!!!" The midwives had brought the wrong baby into the room in the middle of the night- a little girl!
ReplyDeleteIt probably sounds terrible, but after my daughter was born someone could have given me a puppy and if they told me it was my baby I probably would have tried to feed it as well. I was so out of it that, had I not written a journal entry that night and seen the video footage/photos, I don't think I would have any memories about her birthday. My daughter was delivered by c-section and was very premature so on top of the morphine and spinal block I was also extremely anxious. I think this goes some way to explaining my sense of confusion/detachment.
ReplyDeleteI have heard recent examples of hospitals mixing up EBM, but in this day and age with all the training and policies in place I think it is appalling that a mother was given the wrong baby by nursing staff.
I could definitely pick my little girl out of a lineup when she was newborn! She looked so much like her daddy. I too find it a little odd that a mother could feed the wrong bub, but that's just my opinion.
ReplyDeleteAt the hospital where I had her (RPA), she did not leave my sight for minute. They never took her away from me, had both ankles tagged, and she slept right next to me the 2 nights I was there.
Ah yes, the name tags. I had one and my baby had two! one on his wrist and another on his ankle. And apparently there was some sort of techno thingy that set off an alarm if the wrong baby was brought into my room. On top of that, we roomed together the 3 days we were in the hospital. So the tags were for when the baby had to be taken for jabs and tests and stuff. So please with all of this, even if mom is a bit out of it, the hospitals have all the (or should have I guess) all these 21st century gizmos to guard agains this! But I loved reading all these comments. As you can see, I have issues sleeping....Its past midnight here! lol!
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure my mum said somethin' along the lines of "Can I trade this one in?" after I popped out.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I think the shock of red hair is a distinguishing feature. Generally, newborns tend to be homogeneous and genderless in appearance. I'm sure most mums who are all hopped up on Spinal taps and whatnot would try to feed a small watermellon if they were handed one.
I freely admit to knowing absolutely squat about what I'm talkin' about here.
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ReplyDeleteWe don't have nurseries in our hospitals and they are in your room all the time so it'd have to be a monumental stuff up for this to happen....those little tags do fall off all the time though and I must say that it took a while for all babies not to look the same to me I can't rightly say I'd have noticed if it wasn't my little one (my mum says they all like Winston Churchill).
ReplyDeletereally good
ReplyDeleteJenny I didn't think of that, you might be right the mother could have been really unwell etc. As for Winston Churchill clones, I have to say that even without the ruby red hair my Tinker's face was so unique in my eyes. She had these really alert doe-like eyes and the biggest mouth you've seen on a newborn. Kinda like that Aerosmith guy only newborn. What's his name? Liv Tyler's dad?
ReplyDeleteMy sister in law received her newborn daughters hospital pictures the day after her birth. After looking at them my mother n law and I said the pictures didn't look like our new baby. My sister in law became very upset with us and said "don't you think I know my own baby?' Later on that afternoon a hospital employee came into her room with another set of pictures (which looked just like our baby) and an apology for the mix up. That was 26 years ago. Every now and again I find pleasure in reminding my sister n law of this. :-) Strange things do happen!
ReplyDeleteAfter my second son was born we had is photos taken at the hospital and when we got them back my husband and I were convinced we were given the wrong set of pics until half an hour later we realized oh crap, they are the right ones.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened was my first son also had his pics taken at birth and wore the same outfit that my second son also wore in his pics and because they looked so much alike at birth we thought we were given the wrong set of pics. We can only differentiate between the two sets of pics by looking at what position their hands were in at the time.
None of my children ever left my sight, but our hospital does the two tags on the feet (which are hopeless and never stayed on) and also the sticky label down the middle of the back. (AKA, their "price tag" :)
ReplyDeleteRach
My firstborn was given to me right away, and I would have known her without a doubt, her smell, her eyes, her little nose. Then I had premature twin girls, and they had to be rushed from the room right after birth, so only my husband got to see them for the first 8 hours while I was in recovery!!(horrible story for another time) I cried and had nightmares about them switching my babies, and I had to make my husband swear and swear and then swear again that the girls in the NICU were the same girls they had pulled from me the night before! He assured me that they had tagged them right there in front of him as he cut the cords before they rushed them out, but even though one or both of us was with them almost the whole time, I still had nightmares for a month! Now of course there is no doubt, since they look just like us!!
ReplyDeleteAfter 36 hours of labor and an emergency c-section I was pretty drugged up. During the procedure I had breathing complications in which an oxygen mask was placed over my mouth and nose. I was so drugged up that the moment they presented her to me while crying out of pure joy I went to kiss her and bumped her with my mask (having forgotten that it was on). I did not get a clear image of her as everything was so blurry and unclear. Fortunately for me, my husband was present and followed the nurses about as they gave her, her first shots, bathed her etc. The first person with a clear shot of my daughters mug was my husband and he too was the first to care for her. Nothing really went according to my birthing plan, but I did get a healthy 8lb, 11oz, 22 1/2 inch baby out of it. My husband concurs, after getting a clear shot of our daughter there is no way that we could have mistaken one child for another. It is my belief that every child is not only born with his/her own distinct features,but they begin each with unique personalities. Mine was forceful, strong-willed and confident and it was from this day forward that I could not say that I believe in the "blank slate theory". Blog of note: Congratualtions! I believe it is how you relate with others and your sense of humor that has gotten you noticed.
ReplyDeleteNicole :)