When I was pregnant with my first child, my mum thought it would be fun to watch the Switched At Birth movie one night. We loved watching those kinds of films and Switched At Birth, and Butterbox Babies were two of our favourites.
I was 19 years old and heavily pregnant at the time, and in addition to all the horror stories I’d been told about childbirth, I now had a new fear unlocked: my baby being switched at birth. I doubt it would have the comedic feel of Big Business.
Shortly after our movie night, I went into labour. All I could think about on the drive to the hospital was that they would switch my baby. I don’t think I slept for more than a couple of hours at a time during my stay. I can’t imagine how being in Maisie Beth’s shoes would feel.
Switched at Birth – Just Like The Movie!
Maisie Beth experienced an unimaginable situation when she was given the wrong baby. It’s the kind of scenario usually seen in movies, where parents take home the wrong child. She never imagined it would happen to her, yet it did.
The 22-year-old new mum, Maisie, gave birth to her baby girl, Isabella, last September, but because Isabella needed some extra care due to her needing phototherapy and a tube fitted, she stayed in the hospital for a few days.
After 48 hours, Isabella was put under a phototherapy lamp and needed round-the-clock monitoring. Her cot was in a little nursery across the hall from Maisie, and she was the only baby there.
The nurses checked on her every two hours so they knew who Maisie was and who Isabella was — or so she thought.
Witching hour confusion
One night, at about 3:00 a.m., Maisie woke up and visited Isabella in the nursery. She saw her in her cot, had a little visit, and then went to the bathroom. When she returned, the nurses called her into their office, where they had Isabella.
This raised a red flag and confused Maisie because she had been told Isabella couldn’t leave the phototherapy lamp, so she asked why they had her in the office. The midwives explained that Isabella had been crying and wouldn’t settle, so they brought her to the office.
Maisie’s first thought was, “Did I just cuddle someone else’s baby in the nursery?” But she was two days postpartum; it was 3:00 a.m., and she was tired, so she took the baby back to bed without much further thought.
Later, when the midwives came to do Isabella’s observations, they commented on how much she looked like Maisie. But here’s the thing — they’d just told her that Isabella looked like her dad the day before.
While changing the baby’s nappy, Maisie nearly had a heart attack when she saw a little surprise—Isabella was supposed to be a girl, but the baby was clearly a boy. She hit the emergency button immediately.
“My instant reaction was that somebody had stolen my baby. I was absolutely terrified after four years of infertility. I thought I’d lost my baby after giving birth to her,” reveals Maisie.
“When I saw her again, the relief I felt is unexplainable. She was still asleep in her little car, and it didn’t seem like anything had happened to her, but I instantly felt an overwhelming feeling of guilt for the other mum.”
Initially, the staff thought Maisie was joking, but when they saw the baby, their faces turned white.
A case of mistaken identity?
It turns out that they thought Maisie was the mum of a baby boy because they looked so much alike. The other mother was the mum of the baby boy, and the staff didn’t double-check before handing the baby to Maisie.
For the next five days, no one mentioned the incident, leaving Maisie unsure if the other mother was even aware of what had happened. This was especially concerning because Isabella was sick, and if the baby boy had received Isabella’s medication, it could have led to serious consequences.
“God knows what would’ve happened, I could’ve breastfed this baby or the mum could’ve woken up to an empty crib,” Maisie commented after the incident.
Lesson learned: sometimes real life is stranger (and way more stressful) than fiction.
University Hospitals Dorset launches full investigation
“We are currently investigating an incident that occurred in our maternity unit in September 2023, where a baby was handed to the wrong mother,” commented the Director of Midwifery at University Hospitals Dorset, Lorraine Tonge.
Lorraine went on to say:
“We deeply regret any distress this may have caused and have reached out to the mother to offer our support. We encourage her to contact us to aid in our investigation. The safety of our parents and their babies is our top priority, and we are committed to offering complete support to the families impacted by this incident.”
The internet weighs in
Many people commented, saying they wondered about name-tag bracelets.
“”She looked like the boy’s mother so that’s who we decided to give her to…” Let’s just do away for bracelets and let our subjective conclusion take over…” Crazedstargazer said.
“This happened to my chonk of a brother in the 70s, so my mum immediately knew it wasn’t him when a much smaller baby was handed to her. Meanwhile, my brother was already latched onto another boob!!” commented Frogsarethebest.
A few commenters wondered if this had happened before and how many mums were raising babies that weren’t theirs.
Some thought she should have realised earlier because her baby would only be in a nappy under the lights and that she was doing this for attention.
“Moment my daughter was born I was watching her like a hawk. She did not leave me eye sight nor my arms reach the entire hospital stay,” said Alex.
What would you do if you were in Maisie’s shoes?
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