A pair of parents who were looking forward to celebrating the birth of their child were left stunned in a case of mistaken identity concerning the newborn baby.
This comes after hospital staff handed them a baby boy instead of a girl, leaving them demanding answers for the mixup.
Wife have birth to baby girl
Speaking to Harian Metro, Muhammad Harraz Haziq said his wife gave birth to a baby girl on Apr 7 before the infant was sent to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Tunku Azizah Hospital (HTA).
He added his child was supposed to be discharged on Apr 8 but had to remain in the ward due to jaundice.
Wrong baby
On the night of Apr 8, Muhammad Harraz said a nurse came to take the baby for a blood test. At around 5am the next morning, the nurse placed the infant in the incubator.
At about 6am, my wife started noticing something was wrong and was shocked to discover that the baby was actually a baby boy, not our daughter,” he recounted.
When he confronted the nurse over the error, the latter expressed doubt and asked whether he was sure of his child’s gender.
“They actually asked if my baby was really a girl. Luckily, I had the foresight to take a photo of the birth confirmation form as proof.
“While my daughter was eventually found on the same day, what confuses me the most is how could both the baby boy and my child be wearing tags bearing my wife’s name?” he questioned.
No clear answer
Angered by the incident, Muhammad Harraz tried to seek further explanation from the medical team involved, but they allegedly dodged his questions.
He also tried contacting the doctor in charge but it led to a dead end.
Left with no recourse, Muhammad Harraz lodged a police report on Apr 10 in hopes that the hospital will come forward and provide answers.
Hospital responds
In a statement by HTA director Dr Shamsul Anuar Kamarudin, he said the matter has been resolved with the babies being given to their respective mothers.
He added necessary explanation and support to the families involved were given, with preliminary checks showing that no breastfeeding or medical procedures that compromised the babies’ safety had occurred, reported NST.
Dr Shamsul Anuar also said an internal probe is underway to determine the cause of the incident and improve existing procedures to prevent such incidents from happening.
