In a shocking story, a woman claims that a hospital outside of Houston allowed another patient to breastfeed her baby shortly after it was born due to a mix-up at the birthing facility.
According to the Huffington Post, after Jessica Escobedo gave birth to her third child Melanie, on December 10, 2013, at the Oak Bend Medical Center, she was brought a baby by a nurse who she did not give birth to.
Horrified, Escobedo demanded to know where her child was, before finding out that Melanie was taken to another mother, who did not notice that she had the wrong baby.
“I asked the nurse where [Melanie was] and they actually took my baby to another mother,” Escobedo said, according to the HuffPost. “[S]he was over there for like two hours and the other mother actually breast fed and didn’t notice that she had the wrong baby.”
“This could’ve been something like I see in the movies,” Melanie’s father Aaron Powell said. “I didn’t think I’d see my own child getting handed to someone else and they put their nipple in her mouth.”
Officials with Oak Bend confirmed that there was a mistake made and have apologized to the families involved. The facility claims that an internal investigation into the incident is taking place.
The mother who breastfed Melanie has been tested for diseases to rule out the possibility that the baby was exposed to any potential illnesses, according to the HuffPost.
It should be noted that a similar baby mix-up occurred with a pair of children in Minneapolis in 2012, and the baby who was breastfed by mistake had to undergo four years of HIV and hepatitis testing.
I Need a Texas Birth Injury Lawyer
This story is an example of an appalling attention to detail by a hospital. Newborns have fragile immune systems and some have severe allergies—exposure to diseases could lead to long-term illnesses and potential birth injuries.
This child could have been exposed to HIV, hepatitis, herpes and chicken pox, among other infectious diseases. In addition to babies placed at-risk for infectious diseases, we represent parents whose children have suffered from birth injuries like cerebral palsy, erb’s palsy and shoulder dystocia brought on by healthcare provider negligence.
If complications during childbirth including negligence by a healthcare provider resulted in your son or daughter suffering birth trauma, you should meet with our birth injury attorneys to see what options are available to you. For more information, call our firm at 1 (800) 460-0606 to schedule a free consultation.
[Did You Know: According to the CDC, the percentage of newborns breastfed in hospitals increased from 41 percent in 2007 to 54 percent in 2011.]
Cappolino Dodd Krebs LLP – Birth Injury Attorneys
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/11/baby-breastfed-by-stranger_n_4578108.html
