FIRST time mother Stef Phillips has called for more support for midwives at Gosford Hospital after her newborn baby was given to the wrong mother to be breastfed.
Less than 24 hours after her birth in August, after the provision of night respite for two babies from the same room, baby Ellianna was given to the wrong mother to be breastfed for about two hours.
Miss Phillips, 22, of Bateau Bay, was informed as soon as the error was discovered in the early hours of August 19. Blood tests were carried out and came back clear, with follow-up testing to be done when Ellianna is three months old.
Stef Phillips, with her baby Ellianna, said she was devastated when she found out about the mix-up. Picture: Peter Clark
“When they came in and said what happened, initially I didn’t really know what they meant but when they came back and explained it better, I was like ‘what the hell’,” she said.
The frustration felt by Miss Phillips and Ellianna’s father Francesco Messina was exacerbated when another midwife came in and passed on her colleague’s apologies.
“She said she’d had a sleep and when she woke up, she was confused about what she was doing,” Miss Phillips said.
source:dailytelegraph.com.au
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