Newborn breastfed by wrong mother

Itumeleng Pitso had to leave her three-day-old baby boy Bokang in the care of the hospital after he was diagnosed with neonatal sepsis, staphylococcus skin infection and a septic umbilical cord on February 24, Boksburg Advertiser reported.

The child’s father, David Pitso, said it seemed the other woman did not know the child was not her baby, as she had given birth on the same day as Itumeleng.

“I am furious at the nurses and doctors because they proved to be negligent. They gave our baby to another woman to be fed; what if our baby was harmed? The hospital put our baby in danger,” he said.

Gauteng department of health spokesperson Prince Hamnca said corrective measures were implemented after the matter was reported.

“Both mothers were called in, and the baby was correctly identified as belonging to the complainant,” said Hamnca.

“Both mothers were then counselled and tested for HIV. Prophylaxis (Nevarapine) was prescribed for baby Bokang to minimise chances of him being infected with HIV, in case the wrong mother was HIV-positive. Fortunately, the results for both mothers came back as negative, and they were asked to come back after three months for repeat tests.”

Hamnca said Bokang’s mother was asked to bring the baby to the hospital after six weeks for further testing.

“Natalspruit Hospital regrets this incident and has undertaken to implement certain security measures, such as nurses confirming a baby’s identity with the mother before breastfeeding, while mothers must bring IDs and the baby’s Road to Health card as means of proper identification,” he said.

“The hospital has also undertaken to educate mothers not to breastfeed before a correct identification has been done by the nurse.”

Hamnca said quality improvement plans and standard operating procedures were developed to ensure the incident was not repeated.

– Caxton News Service