Breast Feeding Mix Up
What would you do???
As reported by NyPost.com:
A distraught Brooklyn woman says hospital workers accidentally switched her daughter with another baby just after birth -- and the other mom wound up breast-feeding her child.
Devastated mom Lynda Williams, 33, who said she never smokes or drinks alcohol and wouldn't even sip soda while pregnant, sued Long Island College Hospital after the 2008 incident, demanding to know if the other woman who breast-fed her daughter was healthy.
"I asked, 'Did she smoke during pregnancy? Did she drink? Does she have any disease? Can I meet her?' " Williams told The Post yesterday.
CHANGE-UP: Lynda Williams, at home yesterday, says she was traumatized when nurses switched baby Jalyn (now 3) with another newborn in 2008. But Williams said hospital staffers refused to divulge anything about the other woman because of privacy laws, and the courts have since sided with LICH, noting the child, now 3, is healthy, so it's a nonissue. Read More
I feel sincerely for this mom! The first time nursing a child is so important for bonding and nutrition, and I understand her anguish. The hospital is completely at fault in this instance and should responsible for any and all compensation. However, the other mom is an innocent party to the whole situation and I think her demands to meet her is unreasonable. She DOES have a right to know what kind of health the mom as in at the time.
What do you think??
In other news:
Carmen @ ClusterLove would like to share this news with the BF/HB directory.
A midwife in her area was charged with involuntary manslaughter of a baby who died during a complicated home birth.
Karen Carr, a Baltimore midwife who has delivered more than 1,200 babies and is well known in the childbirth community, was indicted on a charge of involuntary manslaughter, as well as charges of child abuse, neglect and acting without a license. She was indicted by a grand jury last week on an additional charge of negligently allowing a child’s life to be endangered. Read More
If you wish to support Karen Carr during this time, her website is accepting donations for her legal defense. You can also blog and post the link on your blog. A death of a child is a horrible thing whether you have a planned home birth or a hospital birth. My prayers are with the family of the child and Karen.
Link up to the BF/HD directory to share, interact and follow other moms who float in the same boat.
Thanks so much for the shout out Hannah!
ReplyDeleteWhen my son was very little I was watching a friends baby during the week while she was at work. I had grad school one evening and my husband took a bottle of pumped milk out of the fridge for our son. BUT he had given our baby my friends milk accidentally. I remember being absolutely heart broken that another woman's milk nourished my baby. I remember being so sad and I wept from my toes. However, I did find comfort in the fact that I knew she was healthy and I knew her personally.
I realize this is NO comparison to what happened to this poor woman in NY, but I really feel for her and feel she should have gotten some sort of compensation. I can't imagine!
You're so welcome :) Midwives get slammed when one baby dies in their care in their history of care, and doctors who frequently experience neonatal death walk away Scot-free. I'm hoping and praying for everyone in that situation.
ReplyDeleteI've never had my child drink another mom's milk, but I simply cannot conceive of it! I'm a jealous mom! My babies are mine to feed and I think that is such a natural and normal feeling. It's what gives a nursing mom confidence and empowerment, the fact that she can and does nourish her child! To see another mom do the same thing is just devastating!
I really hope this mom receives some kind of compensation and the hospital reprimanded for this kind of mix-up. It should NEVER happen.
Stopping by from the Fab Friends Thursday Bloghop! www.journeytosahm.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteNew follower here, would love a follow back at www.livingonadollar.com thanks!!
ReplyDeleteThis post is very timely! I love your blog and look forward to reading more posts! Following you from the Fab Friends Blog Hop! Come say hi at http://productjunkiemama.blogspot.com.
ReplyDeleteOh wow, I don't know what to say about this. I supposed if it happens to me, I'd be devastated of course, I mean like you said, the first nursing is VERY important (due to the colostrum) and not knowing whether there's any problems from the BM my baby's getting accidentally would be very worrying!
ReplyDeleteTough call...
hi the mix up is terrible! I would have been horrified! I am 36 wks pregnant now and have a 15 month old son. Luckily the hospital I deliver in they never even take the baby out of the room! Hearing things like this when you are pregnant always makes things worse... new follower from MBC :-) would love a visit to my new blog thanks :-) http://mamasspotchaos.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteA mix up like that is devastating and dramatic. I think wanting to know the other woman's health condition is important but some of those specific questions (like did she smoke while pregnant) seems irrelevant to her milk production (in my opinion). Plus, I figure if that mom was ready to BF her baby, she's probably taking better care of herself than someone who won't even try to nurse.
ReplyDeleteI bet that woman felt awful for not knowing it WASN'T her baby...
Oh my gosh, that is horrible!! I would freak out!
ReplyDeleteI am a new follower, from the Finding New Friends hop! I hope that you can follow back!
http://atlantamilitarymom.com
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