Nurse on leave after giving wrong baby to mother at Concord, NH hospital

CONCORD, N.H. (WHDH) - A nurse at Concord Hospital in New Hampshire has been placed on administrative leave after allegedly giving the wrong newborn to a mother for feeding on Sunday.

The newborn received 5 milliliters of formula while in the patient care unit from the incorrect mother, a hospital spokesperson said. This feeding was part of the infant’s care plan.

The baby’s grandmother Lisa Lylyk said her daughter didn’t notice the newborn wasn’t her child due to her long labor and narcotics she had been put on.

“My daughter had just underwent 41 hours of labor. She had been on narcotics for the first time in her life. Ended in an emergency C-section so, the first time that she saw her baby she was very drugged,” she said. “So when they brought this baby to her it was really like the first time seeing her baby.”

The error was discovered about 10 minutes later and the infant was returned to their mother.

“There was an alarm going off that said, ‘Wrong baby, wrong mother,'” Lylyk recalled. “They shut that off and they never compared bracelets.”

Hospital staff reportedly informed both mothers about the error and no harm to the infant occurred.

“This was an unfortunate case of human error,” the hospital spokesperson said.

Standard protocol requires staff to properly identify each infant and mother via their hospital identification wristbands.

The nurse, who the spokesperson says “has acknowledged the error and is remorseful,” has been placed on leave amid a review of the incident.

“I think it is hard enough being a first-time mom and worrying about what kind of parent you’re going to be,” Lylyk said. “Then to have that happen. That just adds to it.”

(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)