A mother is suing the hospital where she gave birth after staff mixed up two newborns and gave her baby son to another woman to be breastfed.
Tammy Van Dyke, from Minneapolis in the USA, was staying at Abbott Northwestern Hospital when her two-day-old son, Cody, was mistakenly placed in the care of a mum of twin newborns.
Cody was breastfed by the unnamed woman, who believed it was her child even though he was reportedly wearing three identification bracelets.
Van Dyke filed a lawsuit against the hospital last week, claiming the incident led to “unnecessary medical treatment, tests and expenses, and severe mental injury and emotional pain and suffering,” according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune .
Days after the confusion led to Cody being breastfed by a total stranger, the baby boy and the unnamed woman had to undergo rigorous testing to ensure they hadn’t been exposed to infectious diseases like hepatitis or HIV.
Baby Cody then had to undergo tests for the same diseases every three months for a year.
The incident occurred on December 5, 2012, and Tammy is now seeking $50,000 in damages for hospital negligence.
In an interview with KSTP-TV at the time, Tammy said: “Never in a million years would you think this could happen or would happen.”
The hospital acknowledged its error and, since the incident, has changed its processes.
A new procedure means high-tech identification bands are used to avoid something like this happening again.
Speaking on behalf of the Abbott’s Mother Baby Centre, Michelle Smith explained: “We began using electronic identification bands for the mother and infant that must be matched when returning the infant to the mother.
“This helps us to assure that the identity of the infant and mother are matched each time.”
A spokeswoman for the hospital group told the Star Tribune that she is unaware of any such incidents occurring since the band system has been brought in.
Mirror.co.uk
