This mom’s baby was allegedly switched shortly after she gave birth. Now the hospital refuses to compensate the family in any way.
You hear horror stories every so often about kids who were switched at birth and the truth wasn’t uncovered until years later, once each set of parents and child has spent part of their lives together.
It’s a parent’s worst nightmare and can be devastating for those involved.
This woman says her baby was switched at the hospital. She claims the hospital just wants to make her story go away. Here’s what she has to say about it.
Mom calls out hospital for switching babies
In a viral video with more than 2.2 million views, mom Maisie Beth (@maisieandbelle) shared the unfortunate situation she went through shortly after giving birth.
In the video, Maisie Beth is holding her newborn baby girl while in the hospital.
“She doesn’t know it yet, but tonight she will wake up to find herself holding someone else’s newborn baby instead of her own, & her postpartum journey will be changed forever,” the text overlay on the video read.
In a story time, Maisie Beth explained that her newborn had to stay in the hospital a few extra days. This is so she could be put under a phototherapy lamp. This treatment is often used to treat jaundice, which is when a body has too much bilirubin, making the skin and eyes appear yellow.
Maisie Beth’s daughter was put in a crib across the hall from her and monitored every two hours.
A strange call
On day two, Maisie Beth was woken up by a nurse around 3am so she could interact with the baby. Instead of taking her to the nursery room, they called her into the office. Maisie Beth thought it was strange, given that her daughter needed constant blue light therapy.
When Maisie Beth questioned them, they assured her it was just because the baby had been “crying loads,” which continued to pique Maisie Beth’s attention since her baby wasn’t a crier.
But things didn’t come to a head until Maisie Beth had to change the baby’s diaper.
“When I tell you I nearly had a heart attack. I pulled down her nappy and I was greeted with a little willy,” Maisie Beth.
Maisie Beth said she nearly passed out and pressed the emergency button, but when someone didn’t come quickly enough, she stormed into the nurses’ office and demanded they tell her where Isabella was.
At first, they thought she was joking, until they realized they’d confused her with another mom who’s also tall with dark hair.
“For the rest of the five days I was there, it was never spoken about again,” Maisie Beth said. “I’m not even sure if the other mom knew what happened.”
Maisie Beth shared another video clarifying some questions her viewers had about her daughter being switched at birth. For instance, the baby she was changing was not a boy, but a girl.
Mom answers the most asked questions
Why did she lie?
Maisie Beth clarified that while she didn’t lie, she did falsify some details to protect the hospital and the other mom involved.
In the story, Maisie Beth said her baby was switched with a baby boy, but in reality, she was switched with another girl.
Have you done a DNA test on your daughter?
No, they did not perform a DNA test.
“We’re pretty sure she’s ours,” Maisie Beth said.
Will she sue the hospital?
Maisie Beth shared that there was an investigation in place, but she hasn’t gotten any final responses yet.
But the hospital let her know changes were being made at the maternity ward.
“I’m of course hoping there’s gonna be some kind of compensation, such as therapy for me,” Maisie Beth said. “Thousands of you can tell me I don’t need it, but I found this really traumatic and it affects the way I parent to this day.”
Hospital admits its error
In a follow-up, she shared that the hospital admitted, in writing, that they gave her the wrong child. As a result, it adopted new training procedures, tools, like electronic baby tags, and changed security.
But they still refuse to cover Maisie Beth’s therapy.
“Even after explaining the long-term effects it’s had on me. They still just don’t seem to care, and they just want me to keep quiet about it,” Maisie Beth shared.
She continued, “If the medical negligence I experienced left me with physical damage, I would be given physiotherapy and even compensation, but obviously, the trauma I’ve come away with is mental trauma.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Maisie Beth for comment via email and Instagram direct message.
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