Mom wants answers after 3-hour baby switch
GREEN BAY, Wis. — A Green Bay woman says she’s still upset after a hospital mix-up that resulted in her nursing the wrong newborn this summer.
Nurses at St. Mary’s Hospital gave Amy Amschler the wrong baby the day after her son’s birth, and she spent almost three hours with the child before hospital officials informed her of the error. She said she wants to know where her baby was during that time, and she’s angry that the hospital won’t put her in contact with the other mother.
“She’s the only one that really understands what I feel like,” Amschler told WGBA-TV for a report this week.
The hospital declined to comment to the station, citing privacy issues as spelled out in so-called HIPAA regulations.
“In order for us to be in compliance with federal HIPAA regulations it would be inappropriate for us to comment or release information about anyone who may or may not have been a patient at any of our hospitals,” St. Mary’s said in a statement.
Amschler gave birth to her son, Henry, four months ago. A day later the delivery nurses brought her a baby to hold and nurse.
Three hours later, hospital officials came in and asked her guest to leave the room.
“I remember thinking something was wrong with my son,” Amschler said.
The officials told her there had been a breach in protocol. They said Henry had been placed in a different baby crib, so the nurses brought the correct crib but the wrong baby.
“I didn’t believe them at first. I didn’t believe them,” she said. “I think they had to tell me three times.”
Amschler said she looked at her hospital records and saw a nurse’s note that the other family had thought something was wrong. The father of the other baby was asking why the umbilical cord was clamped again when the clamp had been removed the day before, she said.
The hospital gave Amschler a series of tests because she had passed bodily fluids to the other baby.
The Amschlers set up a DNA test to ensure the baby they have now is theirs. The test confirmed that he was.
Even though St. Mary’s paid for that test, Amschler said she feels the hospital has been less than cooperative. She filed a complaint against the hospital with the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services.
She said she reached out to WGBA-TV in the hopes of finding the mother of the baby she nursed. She also said she hopes her story will remind other mothers to always check their baby’s ID bracelet.