Two Johannesburg mothers are in a tailspin as hospital swaps newborns!
Imagine giving birth and entrusting the hospital with your newborn, only to find out that they swapped your baby with another mother's child.
We can't imagine the stress and anxiety that mothers and fathers have to go through having to give birth during COVID-19. Under normal circumstances it is stressful, and now there are so many extra factors to add into the mix.
We heard from one of our colleagues that when they were expecting, they were advised by parents that one parent should always follow the nurse who takes the baby to the nursery. At first, she and her husband laughed, thinking they were joking, but when they didn't laugh, they were surprised that this actually happens.
Well, imagine that when we hear about a real-life situation. Luckily it hasn't ended like it does in soapies or telenovelas where the babies grow up in the wrong families and meet coincidentally when they are adults.
Saying that, the mothers are not at all happy with the hospital for swapping their newborns. Of course, everyone makes mistakes but this one is literally life changing!
The two mothers, who gave birth to their baby boys on Monday at the Thelle Mogoerane Hospital in Volsoorus, were confused and in a state of panic when their babies were swapped by the maternity staff. According to the news source, the babies were not given name tags, which is part of the standard operating procedure.
Thembi Morapula, who is one of the mothers, was "transferred from a local clinic in Thokoza to the Thelle Mogoerane Hospital in Vosloorus where she gave birth to a baby boy a few hours after she was admitted.
"Morapula said that nurses told her to rest in another ward and that they would bring her newborn to her later. But when she was not reunited with her baby, she began to worry. Her concerns were not misplaced." (MSN)
They told me that the baby is alive but has been mixed up with another one and both of them are boys and that the babies were not tagged after the delivery. I gave birth on Monday. They showed me my baby and told me it was a boy and took him away. I was still sedated at the time.
The other mother is an 18-year-old who chose to remain anonymous. Both sets of parents are currently awaiting DNA tests to be concluded. This process is said to take up to a week so they will have to wait, while being isolated from their newborns.
We cannot imagine what both mothers must be going through not being able to see their newborns. And we are even sadder for the babies, who thrive on skin-to-skin contact at this time. We hope that this issue gets resolved as soon as possible.
Our advice if you are expecting, learn from this and make sure that your partner follows the nursing staff so that you can avoid this from occurring.
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