Siphakeme .Mnindwa
Sikhumbuzo Moyo, smoyo@chronicle.co.zw
GOVERNMENT has described as “very unfortunate” the recent baby-swapping incident that occurred at the United Bulawayo Hospitals after a woman who had given birth to a baby boy received the shock of her life when a nurse handed her a baby girl.
Responding to Chronicle yesterday, Health and Child Care Ministry permanent secretary, Dr Aspect Maunganidze, said the Government was aware of the incident and awaits the outcome of investigations, which have since been initiated.
“The ministry is aware of the unfortunate incident of ‘baby swapping’ that occurred at United Bulawayo Hospitals and awaits the results of the investigation that we instructed the hospital to undertake,” said Dr Maunganidze.
The permanent secretary said the Government was also aware of the sensitivity of the matter hence the two families involved as well as hospital staff at the centre of the matter will undergo professional trauma counselling.
“While we expect the investigation to be concluded expeditiously, we acknowledge the sensitivities around the matter. Parallel to the investigative process, we have instructed the institution to assist with counselling all affected parties (including the staff), reorient or refresh our staff on the standard operating procedures during and after delivery, and reinforce the importance of good moral and ethical practice,” said Dr Maunganidze.
The woman, who cannot be named for ethical reasons, had to resort to Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing, done at a private DNA laboratory in the city centre and the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) to prove her concerns that the baby girl was not hers after the nurse on duty had told her that her child was a girl and that since she had given birth through Cesarean Section, she may have been under sedation.
The hospital staffers allegedly reassured her that anaesthesia from the operation had caused her confusion. Frustrated but determined, the mother contacted her family for support.
She remembered that about 15 minutes before she went into theatre, another lady was also in the ward and was meant to undergo the same procedure.
However, the lady had somehow been discharged and left for her home in Esigodini, Matabeleland South Province.
Her family came to her support, especially since scan results a day earlier had revealed that her unborn baby was a boy.
Unperturbed, the woman visited Global DNA lab at Bulawayo Centre and the results proved that the baby girl she was given was not hers.
Furious, the family returned to the hospital, demanding answers and demanding the return of their biological son. Hospital staff were compelled to locate the other mother. A hospital vehicle was dispatched to retrieve her.
However, the woman’s husband insisted that the child was his. The police were subsequently involved, and the couple was brought to Bulawayo.
At the insistence of the aggrieved family, the hospital engaged the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) for DNA testing. The results unequivocally confirmed that the two babies had been exchanged.
Zephania Dlamini, head of the Applied Genetics Testing Centre at Nust, confirmed the discovery.
“In the Bulawayo cases, two women who were in the same ward at UBH delivered around the same time.
“The complainant asserted that her baby was a boy, but when it was returned after cleaning, she was given a girl.”
Dlamini further said that when confronted with the discrepancy, the other mother adamantly insisted that her child was indeed a boy, a claim vehemently supported by her husband.
“He even insisted that the ultrasound scan had confirmed the sex of the child as male. Before approaching Nust, the complainant had sought testing at Global DNA lab in the city centre, which confirmed that the baby girl was not hers.
“Our results corroborated these findings. Subsequent testing on the couple claiming to be the parents of the boy yielded negative results, while the boy’s DNA matched that of the complainant, and the girl’s DNA matched that of the other woman,” said Dlamini.
Sikhumbuzo Moyo, smoyo@chronicle.co.zw
GOVERNMENT has described as “very unfortunate” the recent baby-swapping incident that occurred at the United Bulawayo Hospitals after a woman who had given birth to a baby boy received the shock of her life when a nurse handed her a baby girl.
Responding to Chronicle yesterday, Health and Child Care Ministry permanent secretary, Dr Aspect Maunganidze, said the Government was aware of the incident and awaits the outcome of investigations, which have since been initiated.
“The ministry is aware of the unfortunate incident of ‘baby swapping’ that occurred at United Bulawayo Hospitals and awaits the results of the investigation that we instructed the hospital to undertake,” said Dr Maunganidze.
The permanent secretary said the Government was also aware of the sensitivity of the matter hence the two families involved as well as hospital staff at the centre of the matter will undergo professional trauma counselling.
“While we expect the investigation to be concluded expeditiously, we acknowledge the sensitivities around the matter. Parallel to the investigative process, we have instructed the institution to assist with counselling all affected parties (including the staff), reorient or refresh our staff on the standard operating procedures during and after delivery, and reinforce the importance of good moral and ethical practice,” said Dr Maunganidze.
The woman, who cannot be named for ethical reasons, had to resort to Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing, done at a private DNA laboratory in the city centre and the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) to prove her concerns that the baby girl was not hers after the nurse on duty had told her that her child was a girl and that since she had given birth through Cesarean Section, she may have been under sedation.
The hospital staffers allegedly reassured her that anaesthesia from the operation had caused her confusion. Frustrated but determined, the mother contacted her family for support.
She remembered that about 15 minutes before she went into theatre, another lady was also in the ward and was meant to undergo the same procedure.
However, the lady had somehow been discharged and left for her home in Esigodini, Matabeleland South Province.
Her family came to her support, especially since scan results a day earlier had revealed that her unborn baby was a boy.
Unperturbed, the woman visited Global DNA lab at Bulawayo Centre and the results proved that the baby girl she was given was not hers.
Furious, the family returned to the hospital, demanding answers and demanding the return of their biological son. Hospital staff were compelled to locate the other mother. A hospital vehicle was dispatched to retrieve her.
However, the woman’s husband insisted that the child was his. The police were subsequently involved, and the couple was brought to Bulawayo.
At the insistence of the aggrieved family, the hospital engaged the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) for DNA testing. The results unequivocally confirmed that the two babies had been exchanged.
Zephania Dlamini, head of the Applied Genetics Testing Centre at Nust, confirmed the discovery.
“In the Bulawayo cases, two women who were in the same ward at UBH delivered around the same time.
“The complainant asserted that her baby was a boy, but when it was returned after cleaning, she was given a girl.”
Dlamini further said that when confronted with the discrepancy, the other mother adamantly insisted that her child was indeed a boy, a claim vehemently supported by her husband.
“He even insisted that the ultrasound scan had confirmed the sex of the child as male. Before approaching Nust, the complainant had sought testing at Global DNA lab in the city centre, which confirmed that the baby girl was not hers.
“Our results corroborated these findings. Subsequent testing on the couple claiming to be the parents of the boy yielded negative results, while the boy’s DNA matched that of the complainant, and the girl’s DNA matched that of the other woman,” said Dlamini.
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