Bolangir,Dec.28 : In a bizarre incident of baby swapping, a family of Bolangir district alleged that their healthy newborn was exchanged and sent to Burla hospital in place of another baby at the Bhima Bhoi Medical College and Hospital yesterday.
Sources said Pabitra Khadia’s wife Pankajini of Brahmanipali village, was admitted to the MCH on December 25. She delivered a baby boy a day later, who was kept in the Special Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) of the hospital.
On the other hand, one Rabichandra of Lukapada village was asked by the hospital staff to shift his baby boy to Burla Hospital after his health condition deteriorated.
However, while admitting the baby at Burla hospital, Rabichandra found that the baby belonged to Pabitra and Pankajini, after he closely inspected the tag affixed with the newborn.
On getting the information, Pabitra and his wife rushed to the Burla hospital hospital but found their newborn baby dead.
Pabitra alleged that his baby was healthy. The death was due to the alleged medical negligence. He also leveled allegations that the babies were swapped due to the ignorance of the hospital staff.
Pabitra also lodged a complaint with the Town police and demanded strict action against the hospital authorities.
The hospital authorities have also taken responsibility for their mistake. They claimed that they were confused due to identical names of their mothers.
Prasanta Patnaik