By: Natasha Archary
Two Johannesburg moms faced every parent’s worst nightmare this week after their newborn babies were swapped at birth in hospital. The Thelle Mogoerane Hospital in Vosloorus on Gauteng’s East Rand admitted to the mix-up which occurred on Monday evening.
Now the mothers are refusing to be discharged until a DNA test is conducted on their newborn baby boys. According to the hospital, nursing staff failed to attach name tags to the babies after birth, which is a standard procedure at hospitals.
The confusion arose due to both mothers delivering their babies in the same ward and day and staff were not sure which baby belonged to each mother.
Both families are now waiting for the DNA test results which could take up to a week to conclude, during which time the mothers remain isolated from their newborns.
The Gauteng Health Department has assured the mothers that they will launch investigations into how the babies were swapped at birth.
One of the mothers who spoke to EWN said the hospital had not been forthright when she questioned them after giving birth as to why they were not bringing her baby to her.
The 34-year old said she began to panic, fearing that the worst had happened but she was assured by nurses that her baby was alive and well.
“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.”
Both mothers feel the hospital should be held accountable for the mix-up and owe them an explanation because they feel robbed of initial mother and child skin-to-skin bonding time being apart from their newborns.
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