Durg: A family celebrating the arrival of a newborn to their home was left shell-shocked after realising that their baby has been 'swapped' at the Maternity and Child Ward of Durg District Hospital in Chhattisgarh.
To her dismay, Shabana, who delivered a baby through cesarean section at the hospital last week, noticed that the name band on the child's wrist mentioned the mother as Sadhna on February 3 soon after returning home. Immediately, her family members rushed to the hospital to confront the authorities for the alleged negligence.
When the hospital management contacted the other woman named Sadhna, and called her to the hospital to discuss the situation, she was not willing to believe that her child has been swapped.
Receiving information, Durg District Collector Richa Prakash Chaudhary formed a three-member investigation team comprising assistant collector, the nodal doctor of the district hospital, and a senior health official to probe the matter.
DNA test of newborn babies
The Collector said that the matter came to light three days ago in Durg District Hospital. "The two children were born a week ago. One of the parties has claimed that there has been a swap, while the other party is skeptical. Preliminary investigations suggest that the mix-up may have occurred in the hospital's operation theatre due to negligence by a technician," DM Chaudhary said.
Meanwhile, the investigation team has suggested to conduct DNA tests on both babies and their parents to find the veracity of the claims and determine the biological ties.
Currently, the case has been presented before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), which will oversee the next course of action based on the DNA results. If the DNA test reports prove swapping, steps will be taken accordingly to hand over the babies to respective families, informed Chaudhary.
When asked about alleged negligence of hospital staff, the collector said that strict action will be taken against the culprits once the DNA test report comes.
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Curious case of two mothers and their swapped newborns: DNA test puts matter to rest
