A mother was left in shock 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 burst into the maternity office at Poole Hospital demanding to know where her daughter, 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 to an empty crib.”
Maisie gave birth to her daughter in September and, because she needed phototherapy (a treatment for jaundice that uses LED lights) and had a tube fitted, Belle had to be monitored every two hours and was placed alone in a nursery.
New parents Maisie Beth and her partner (pictured right) were left horrified after the hospital mistook their newborn daughter Belle (pictured left) for another child.
Maisie explained that one night she went to visit her baby and, on her way to her room, found the midwife in the office with Belle.
She was confused because Bella had to stay in her crib because she needed phototherapy, but without arguing, she simply accepted it and returned to her room with the girl.
Soon, it was time for Maisie to return her newborn to the phototherapy crib, and that’s when she made her shocking discovery.
In fact, the midwife was not caring for Belle in the office and had given her the wrong baby.
While undressing Belle to go to the crib, Maisie changed her diaper and realized that the baby was a boy and that she had someone else’s newborn child.
Panicking, Maisie ran to the office to look for her daughter. The midwife explained that Maisie looked identical to the child’s mother and, therefore, she had delivered the wrong baby.
Maisie said: ‘I went to the bathroom [and] When I returned the midwife came out of the office and told me to come in because they had Isabella there. I just assumed they had taken her out with her light therapy crib while I was in the bathroom.
“They told me they kept her there for a while because she had been crying a lot. I thought this was strange because she wasn’t allowed out of her phototherapy crib and I had also just been holding a baby at daycare.
Maisie (pictured) discovered she was looking after the wrong child when she went to change her daughter’s nappy and discovered she was carrying a child.
After being born in September, Maisie was admitted to the infirmary of her own hospital for phototherapy.
A midwife told Maisie that she had taken Belle out of her crib and taken her 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 realized I was holding a baby that wasn’t mine.’
‘The nurses told me then that she [the other mother] He looked exactly like me. At the time, it was very early and I was two days postpartum, so we didn’t question anything and I took the baby to my bed.
“The mother was sleeping in a completely different room from me and I don’t know if she ever knew that the baby happened to me.
‘My instant reaction was that someone had stolen my baby. She was absolutely terrified after four years of infertility. I thought I had lost my baby after giving birth to her.
When Maisie joined Belle at the hospital, she was sleeping peacefully in her crib.
The nurse explained to Maisie that she had mistaken Belle for the other baby because she looked like the other mother.
Maisie isn’t sure if the newborn’s mother was aware of the situation between her son and Belle.
Maisie was relieved to be reunited with Belle, but felt an overwhelming sense of guilt for the other mother.
‘As far as I know, Isabella was still in her phototherapy crib this entire time across the hall from me, but I have no idea what happened while I was in bed with the other baby.
‘When I saw her again, the relief I felt is inexplicable. She was still sleeping in her little car and it didn’t seem like anything had happened to her.
But I instantly felt an overwhelming sense of guilt for the other mother. After the incident it was never talked about again.
Lorraine Tonge, director of midwifery at University Hospitals Dorset, said: “We are investigating an incident on our maternity unit in September 2023 in which a baby was given to the wrong mother.
‘We are deeply sorry for any distress that has been caused and have reached out to the mother to offer her support.
‘We urge you to contact us again to assist us in our investigation. “The safety of our parents and babies is the top priority and we are committed to providing full support to affected families.”