Mangaluru: Family suspects babies swapped; Hospital says its a clerical error

Team Udayavani, Oct 15, 2021, 1:40 PM IST

Mangaluru: A couple has accused that a blunder by the doctors of Lady Goschen Hospital has exchanged their baby for another. A case was registered in the Mangaluru North Police Station on Friday.

Mustafa, a resident of Koteshwar, complained that on September 27, his pregnant wife Amreen was admitted to Government Lady Goschen Hospital in the city for delivery.

As per the complaint, it was a difficult case and the baby was delivered through a cesarean operation. At the time, the hospital staff had told the father of the child, Mustafa,  that it was a baby girl. As the baby developed health complications, it was kept in the neonatal intensive care unit of the hospital for 18 days.

The parents claimed that the hospital authorities had issued records indicating the newborn was a baby girl.

After 18 days, the parents decided to refer the baby to another hospital in Brahmavar for advanced care. However, the parents were stunned as the doctors there said the baby was a male.

Mustafa said “When we brought the baby back to the Lady Goschen Hospital and questioned the doctors, we were told they had made a mistake while entering the records. They said the baby was ours.”

Due to the conflicting reports of the doctors, the couple now suspects the baby was swapped after birth.

Meanwhile, the medical superintendent of Lady Goschen Hospital, Dr. Durgaprasad M R, has denied the allegations that babies were exchanged and clarified that it was just a clerical error on the part of the hospital.

He admitted that it was a clerical error and sought an apology for the pain and inconvenience it caused to the family.

“A mistake was done by the attending doctor while writing the notes. As data entry is done based on these notes, the records reflected the wrong gender of the baby. But actually, a baby boy was born to this family,” he reportedly said.

He also refuted the claims of the Brahmavara hospital that the baby had serious health issues. “We undertook extensive checkups and found that the child does not have any health problems,” he said.