Hospital security officers thanked for spotting accidental baby swop

“On Tuesday, 18 April 2023, a 35-year-old mother, who had given birth to a baby boy the previous day was mistakenly discharged with the wrong baby. A security official noticed that the baby boy had a name tag that did not match with that of the mother and immediately alerted the nursing staff,

“The team on duty did not follow standard operating procedure in place within the hospital when discharging the mother and the baby. When the matter was further looked into, it was confirmed that the mother was discharged with the wrong baby,” the Gauteng Department of Health said.

The mother, who had been discharged with the “wrong baby”, was followed to her home, and brought back to the hospital to resolve the matter.

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“Health checks were conducted on the baby prior to him being reunited with his biological mother,” the Gauteng Department of Health said.

“The second patient who is still admitted at the hospital is a 31-year-old mother whose child was mistakenly released to a wrong family. She was alerted of this and later reunited with her child. Both families are receiving trauma counselling to help them deal with the ordeal.”

The department said both families had agreed to DNA and related tests.

Meanwhile, Gauteng MEC for Health and Wellness Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko has apologised to the families and thanked the security officers who raise alarm on the situation.

“We thank the security officer for his alertness as this situation could have turned out much worse. We apologise for the inconvenience caused to both families. The department will take corrective action for this kind of negligence,” she said.