An investigation by The Daily Telegraph in Sydney, Australia, uncovered at least 26 cases in which babies were wrongly identified have occurred in New South Wales public maternity wards in three years.
Staff shortages and the failure to check identification tags were blamed for many of the errors. In one case, a baby was given unnecessary medication because of incorrect identification tags.
Multiple babies were given the wrong breast milk, including one who was given milk found in a fridge. It turned out to be from another mother who had been discharged a month earlier. The baby had to have its stomach pumped to ensure it did not contract infections or become seriously ill.
The Daily Telegraph article is available online at: http://bit.ly/2eolViL.
An investigation by The Daily Telegraph in Sydney, Australia, uncovered at least 26 cases in which babies were wrongly identified have occurred in New South Wales public maternity wards in three years.
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