I realised the baby I was caring for in hospital was not my daughter during a nappy change after a midwife handed me the wrong baby

A mother was left shocked when she realized the baby she was caring for was not her newborn daughter.

Maisie Beth, 22, from Poole, was stunned when she went to change her daughter’s nappy and discovered the newborn was a boy.

The mother stormed into the maternity unit at Poole Hospital and demanded to know where her child, Isabella, nicknamed Belle, had been taken.

She said: ‘God knows what would have happened. I could have breastfed this baby or the mother could have woken up in an empty crib.”

Maisie gave birth to her daughter in September, and because she needed phototherapy – a treatment for jaundice using LED lights – and a tube had to be inserted, Belle had to be checked every two hours and left in a hospital on her own. daycare center installed.

Maisie explained that one evening she went to visit her baby and on the way back to her room, she found the midwife in the office with Belle.

She was confused because Belle was supposed to be kept in her crib because she needed phototherapy, but without any discussion she just accepted and went back to her room with the child.

It didn’t take long for Maisie to return her newborn to the phototherapy crib, and then she made her shocking discovery.

The midwife was actually not caring for Belle in the office and had given her the wrong baby.

While watching Belle undress in front of the crib, Maisie changed her diaper and realized that the baby was a boy, and that she had someone else’s newborn son.

In complete panic, Maisie ran to the office to look for her daughter. The midwife explained that Maisie looked identical to the boy’s mother, and that was why she had handed over the wrong baby.

Maisie said: ‘I went to the toilet [and] On the way back the midwife came out of the office and told me to come in because they had Isabella there. I just assumed they took her with her phototherapy crib while I was on the toilet.

“They told me they kept her there for a while because she cried a lot. I thought this was strange because she wasn’t allowed out of her phototherapy crib and I was also just cuddling a baby in the nursery.

Maisie (pictured) discovered she was caring for the wrong child when she went to change her daughter’s nappy, only to discover she was holding a boy

After her birth in September, Maisie was placed in her own nursing unit for phototherapy

A midwife told Maisie that she had taken Belle from her crib to the office because she was crying

After the shocking discovery, Maisie’s first thought was that someone had stolen her newborn Belle

Maisie continued: ‘I thought, ‘Oh God, I hope no one noticed I was hugging a baby that wasn’t mine.

‘Nurses then told me that they… [the other mother] looked just like me. At that point it was so early and I was two days postpartum so we didn’t question anything and I took the baby back to my bed.

‘The mother was sleeping in a completely different ward to me and I don’t know if she ever knew the baby had been passed to me.

‘My immediate reaction was that someone had stolen my baby. I was absolutely terrified after four years of infertility. I thought I lost my baby after she was born.

When Maisie was reunited with Belle at the hospital, she was sleeping peacefully in her hospital bed

The nurse explained to Maisie that she had confused Belle with the other baby because she looked like the other mother

Maisie is unsure if the newborn boy’s mother was aware of the situation surrounding her son and Belle

Maisie was relieved to be reunited with Belle, but felt overwhelming guilt for the other mother

‘As far as I know, Isabella was in her phototherapy crib across from me the entire time, but I have no idea what happened when I was in bed with the other baby.

‘When I saw her again, the relief I felt was inexplicable. She was still sleeping in her car and it seemed like nothing had happened to her.

“But I immediately felt an overwhelming sense of guilt for the other mother. After the incident it was never really talked about again.’

Lorraine Tonge, director of maternity at University Hospitals Dorset, said: ‘We are investigating an incident in our maternity unit in September 2023 where a baby was handed over to the wrong mother.

‘We deeply regret any distress caused and have contacted the mother to offer her support.

‘We urge her to contact us again to assist us with our investigation. The safety of our parents and babies is the highest priority and we are doing everything we can to provide full support to the families affected.”