No long-term harm for the 7 ‘switched-at-breast’ Aussie babies

Babies switched at birth make for perfect plots for telenovelas and movies. In some cases, what happens is that the babies are given to the wrong mother for breastfeeding, but eventually the mistake is discovered and it is rectified.

In the Australian state of New South Wales, between 2001 and 2015, there were seven instances when newborns were given to the wrong mother to breastfeed, reports the ABC. According to NSW Health, in all seven instances, the mistake was discovered early enough and the infants given to the correct mothers.

However, Walt Secord, Opposition health spokesman, raises the possibility that the mix up could have been traumatic for the mums and potentially dangerous for the babies. Secord admits he is not a mother, but he stresses the importance of first contact and the bonding that happens between a mother and her child during this time.

Secord insists a swap is devastating and carries with it health risks linked with breastfeeding the newborn of another woman. He says the incidents represent how overstressed the state’s health system is.

However, NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner notes that the number of incidents was small compared to the number of babies born in the state and given to the correct mother for their first breastfeeding session. She adds that over the five-year period that Secord cites, 500,000 infants were born in NSW.

Similar incidents have taken place in other hospitals in different parts of the world. In Minneapolis, Abbot Northwestern Hospital made the newborn undergo blood testing for HIV and hepatitis besides apologising to two mothers for the maternity mix up,.

The hospital told Tammy Van Dyke, the mother of Cody, that despite the negative result of the first lab test, it has to be repeated quarterly for one year. However, hospital spokeswoman Gloria O’Connell explains it was just a precautionary measure.