APPLE VALLEY, Minn. -- Tammy Van Dyke is nesting at home with her
brand new son Cody, but her bliss is not what it could be after a mix-up
at Abbott Northwestern Hospital.
Van Dyke says while she was at the hospital earlier this week nurses
at Abbott Northwestern put her son in the wrong bassinet, took him to
the room of another new mother and had her breastfeed him.
She spoke with the other woman, who had just given birth to twins,
after finding out about the mistake. Van Dyke tells KARE 11 that the
woman told her a nurse brought a blonde child into her room and things
didn't feel right. The woman says she told the nurse "I don't think this
is my baby," and the nurse reportedly told her it was, that she was
just tired.
The mother told Van Dyke she breastfed the child, then looked at the
tag around his ankle and learned it was not her baby but a child named
Cody.
Both women had to undergo tests for HIV and hepatitis.
Abbott Northwestern spokesperson Gloria O'Connell confirmed the
events, calling what happened "a terrible mistake." She says proper
procedures were not followed and that there will be consequences.
Thursday afternoon Abbott Northwestern Hospital released an official statement on the baby mix-up. It reads:
Yesterday morning at Abbott Northwestern Hospital an infant was
taken from the newborn nursery to the wrong room and was briefly
breastfed by a woman who is not this infant's mother. While hospital
procedures require staff to match codes on the infant's and mother's
identification bands in order to prevent incidents like this, it appears
these procedures were not followed in this case.
The following statement is from Penny Wheeler, MD, a practicing
obstetrician and Chief Clinical Officer of Allina Health, which owns
Abbott Northwestern:
"On behalf of Abbott Northwestern, I am very sorry this incident
occurred. Providing the best possible patient experience and care
quality is our foremost concern and this incident should not have
occurred. As an obstetrician, I have personally seen verification of the
infant's identifying name band matched correctly with the mother's on
hundreds of occasions. It is extremely unfortunate that was not the case
this time. We sincerely apologize to the involved families and will
make certain we understand why our procedures were not appropriately
followed in this case."
KARE