Vigilant security guard prevents parents from going home with wrong baby

A security guard at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital reunited two newborn babies with their biological parents, after the team on duty failed to follow standard procedure following the infants’ births.

According to the a statement issued by the Health Department, on Tuesday, 18 April 2023, a 35-year-old mother, who had given on Monday, 17 April, was mistakenly discharged with the wrong baby.  

Name tag

The security guard noticed that one baby had a name tag which did not match with that of the mother and immediately alerted the nursing staff.

“When the matter was further looked into, it was confirmed that the mother was discharged with the wrong baby. The mother and the baby were fetched from their home within a couple of hours on the same day and taken back to the hospital where the matter was resolved,” said the statement.  

The Health Department revealed that health checks were later conducted on the baby before being handed over to his biological mother.

ALSO READ: Department of Health concerned over allegations of baby switching in Durban hospital

Second patient

The second patient, who is still admitted at the hospital, is a 31-year-old mother whose child was mistakenly released to the wrong family.

The Health Department says 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 families have further agreed to conduct DNA and related tests to put the matter to rest once and for all.”

Meanwhile, Gauteng MEC for Health and Wellness, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, has commended the security personnel for his selfless deed.

“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,” said Nkomo-Ralehoko.

Separate incident

In June last year, the Department of Health said it was very concerned about allegations of an alleged baby switching incident that occurred at the Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital.

This came after a 17-year-old mother from Umlazi, south of Durban, was allegedly informed by nurses at the Prince Mshiyeni Hospital that her baby was mistakenly switched with another in the hospital nursery in April.

The 17-year-old was told that a baby who died in the hospital nursery was hers.

The statement released at the time of the incident said the matter was investigated and disciplinary measures were taken against implicated staff members.

READ MORE: Two mothers’ eight years of baby swap heartbreak