A shocked mum said she nearly took the wrong baby home from hospital and only realised she was given the wrong child when she went to change the newborn's nappy.
Maisie Beth says she stormed into the office at the maternity warned demanding to know where her daughter was, when she realised the baby she was caring for was actually a boy. The 22-year-old new mum ran around trying to find her newborn Isabelle after the mix up. She says of the ordeal: "God knows what would’ve happened, I could’ve breastfed this baby or the mum could’ve woken up to an empty crib."
Maisie gave birth to her daughter in September, and due to needing phototherapy and having a tube fitted, the tot -nicknamed Belle - had to be monitored every two hours, so she was placed in a nursery on her own. Maisie told how one night she went to visit her baby and, on her way, back to her room found the midwife in the office with Belle. She was confused as Belle was meant to be kept in her crib but without argument she just accepted it and made her way back to her room with her child. Before long, it was time for Maisie to return her newborn to the phototherapy crib which is when she made her shocking discovery.
The midwife was, in fact, not looking after Belle in the office and had given away the wrong baby. Whilst getting Belle undressed for the crib, she changed her nappy to find that she was actually holding someone's newborn boy. In a complete panic, Maisie said she ran to the office to find her daughter, to which the midwife claimed mum Maisie looked identical to the little boy's mother, and she had confused the two when giving her the baby.
Maisie said: "Nurses told me that she looked exactly like me at this point it was so early and I was two days postpartum so we just didn’t question anything and I took the baby back to my bed. The Mum was asleep on a completely different ward from me and I don’t know if she ever knew that the baby was passed to me.
"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. As far as I’m aware, Isabella was still in her phototherapy crib this whole time across the hall from me, but I have no idea what went on while I was in bed with the other baby.
"When I saw her again, the relief I felt is unexplainable. She was still asleep and it didn’t seem like anything that happened to her but I instantly felt an overwhelming feeling of guilt for the other mum. After the incident it was never really spoken about again." Lorraine Tonge, director of midwifery at University Hospitals Dorset, said: “We are investigating an incident in our maternity unit in September 2023 in which a baby was handed to the wrong mother.
We deeply regret any distress that was caused and have reached out to the mother to offer her support. We would urge her to get back in touch with us to assist us in our investigation. The safety of our parents and babies is the highest priority and we are committed to providing full support to the affected families.”