adminPatrick Chitumba Midlands Bureau Chief
AN 18-year-old woman is accusing staff at Gweru Provincial Hospital of switching her baby at birth resulting in her breastfeeding someone’s child.
Phyllis Jakazi of Highlands Farm in Gweru told The Chronicle she gave birth prematurely to a baby boy on March 27.
She said nurses later gave her a baby girl to breastfeed.
Jakazi said she could not stop breastfeeding the girl because she would starve, although she knew the baby was not hers.
Gweru Provincial Hospital superintendent Dr Fabian Mashingaidze refuted Jakazi’s allegations saying only one premature baby was delivered on March 27, ruling out the possibility of a switch.
Jakazi was yesterday adamant that she had been given the wrong baby.
“All I know is that I gave birth to a premature baby on March 27.
“I was told that it was a boy but when I later went to the nursery to breastfeed, I was shocked to see that the baby in the incubator was a girl,” said a distressed Jakazi.
She said she believed there was a mistake in sex identity of the baby.
Jakazi and the baby are still admitted to the hospital.
Dr Mashingaidze said a mistake could have arisen on the recording of the baby’s sex.
“If there were many premature babies born on that day, we could say there was a mix up but on this day it was only that baby,” he said.
Dr Mashingaidze said the child was born female but on the record and name tag, a nurse made a mistake and wrote male.
“The mistake was on the name tag and that has created doubt in the parents who suspect that they could have been given a wrong baby.
“So we’ve decided to redress the matter by doing a DNA test and we got the order from the court.
“The hospital will foot the bill so that the issue is settled,” he said.
Online Reporter