Swapped babies returned to German parents after seven months
21.01.08 23:15

( dpa )- Two 7-month-old girls who were accidentally switched in a German neo-natal ward have been returned to their correct parents in Germany, one of the fathers, Ralf Klos , 36, said Monday.


"It was a very emotional experience," said mother Jeannine Klos , 34, after she had spent the weekend with a young mother, ending Sunday with a farewell to the baby she had once thought was her own.


The switch was discovered last month, when the Kloses saw their missing baby, Lina , for the first time again. The exchange was delayed so that all involved could be psychologically prepared.


The other mother, described by unconfirmed newspaper reports as a schoolgirl, declined to meet the media. Reports say her boyfriend had been forced to take the paternity test which brought the case to light.


The St Elisabeth Hospital in Saarlouis , a small city on the French border, faces a lawsuit and has not explained how the swap happened. Experts are studying whether the babies' identifying wristbands could have slipped off.


Jeannine Klos said she had always had a feeling the baby she was nursing was not quite right: "I once walked around the neo-natal ward and I saw another baby that looked more as if it were my own child."


But she said no one had believed her. Doctors and nurses told her babies changed their appearance rapidly in the first few days.


Klos said she bore no grudge against the hospital although the couple are seeking compensation.


"I felt at home there. Mistakes just happen," she said.


The Kloses were reported at one point to have contemplated bringing up both girls, but this did not come about.


Jeannine Klos said the parents had agreed to meet regularly so they could keep contact with the two changelings.


"The emotional bond will remain. For 7 months, it was as if that little girl was my own child," she said.


Hellgard Rauh , a psychologist in Potsdam near Berlin, predicted there would be no mental damage to the daughters. At half a year, babies could quickly adapt to new adults and forget where they had been previously.


She said experience with older children who were adopted showed that some of them did suffer terrible separation anxiety which could become a lifelong source of behaviour aberrations.


"But in this case, it was probably more upsetting for the parents than for the babies," she said. She praised the wait, saying it ensured that the changeover was not too abrupt.


Rauh said the parents would study their restored babies to discover resemblances to themselves and this would lay the natural basis for love.

http://news.trendaz.com/index.shtml?show=news&newsid=1116870&lang=EN

Another horrific story for parents.

Shanghai hospital sued for baby swap
(eastday.com)
Updated: 2004-04-29 09:18

The parents of a baby boy have sued a hospital which inadvertently swapped their new-born son with a baby girl born to a woman with syphilis.


Hospitals are urged for more sense of responsibility for their life-concerning works. [newsphoto]
Wang Jianhua and her husband, Ye Chunhai, say they have been worried about Wang's health and that of their son since he was born at the Zhabei District Central Hospital in Shanghai on November 20 last year.

Their lawsuit against the hospital, seeking compensation of 80,000 yuan (US$9,638), began hearing in the Zhabei District People's Court Wednesday.

Ye said Wang gave birth to their son at 4:45am, 15 minutes before the baby girl, whose mother suffered from syphilis, a sexual and hereditary disease, was also born.

Wang and her baby were escorted to the ward about 6:50am. On the way to the ward, Wang twice asked the nurse whether the baby was her son and got an affirmative reply, Ye said.

He said the mistake was not discovered until about 4pm when he changed the baby's nappy.

"I saw it was a girl, not a boy," he said.

A nurse found their son half an hour later.

He had been sent to the hospital's intensive care unit and given a penicillin injection, because the serum test of the baby girl suggested she might have syphilis.

The couple not only worried the penicillin might cause side effects to their baby but were also afraid he could have contracted syphilis from contact with the infected mother of the baby girl.

Ye said they were also afraid his wife may have contracted syphilis because she suckled the baby girl.

"So we had to stop breast-feeding the baby and fed him with milk powder. This made the baby weak in immunity and he has become ill often since he was born."

Wang and the boy would have medical examinations once a quarter for a year, Ye said.

The couple sought compensation covering the baby's milk powder, nutrients to improve his immunity, Wang's salary during the observation time and their apartment rental because they had to move out of the home of Wang's sister.

The hospital admitted its nurse made a mistake but argued no negative result was caused because the hospital had adopted remedial measures, such as disinfecting the mother and the baby and testing their blood immediately.

"So far, no symptom has indicated Wang and her son have got syphilis," said Xu Yong, the lawyer representing the hospital.

"According to medical experts the hospital invited for Wang, the possibility of her getting the disease is very slight.

"The weak immunity of the baby depends on his own constitution but has nothing to do with the penicillin injection."

Both sides expressed the desire to reach a negotiated agreement. The final result wasn't available Wednesday.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-04/29/content_327259.htm