Dear Arly,

We haven't had quite the same incident as this but one incident of a baby in
our nursery
receiving another mothers expressed breastmilk.It was discovered after the
baby had happily
finished the whole bottle and this was a formula fed infant!. The parents
were very angry about and
demanded the mother of the EBM have an HIV and Hep B test . This was done
and luckily  they
were negative and the episode ended there. Now we have a policy that we
double check all EBM
prior to administration just as if it were a dangerous drug.

I do remember my mother telling me she was given the wrong infant to feed.
This was back in 1961
and she was so excited because the infant she was given was awake and
demanding a feed( my
older brother was a sleepy baby and not interested in the breast for some
days) so my Mum realised
there was a mistake before she actually fed.She said she had considered
putting that baby to her breast,
just for a moment, to see how it was supposed to feel but didn't.

Janelle Gridley RN



>Hi y'all, back from vacation and thought I would mention a small mix-up
>which occurred at my facility to see what response (similar stories, etc.)
>it may bring.
>
>During the night a mother was accidentally given the wrong baby for a
>feeding and not realizing it was not her own, breastfed it.   Mother was
>upset (crying) for awhile upon learning of the error, but was all smiles
>when I went in to help her breastfeed her baby this morning.
>
>Infection control decided to ask her to submit to an HIV test.
>
>Since she was no longer upset when I saw her, I did not bring up the incident.
>
>Anyone have a similar experience?
>
>Arly
>
>[log in to unmask] (Arly Helm, LC)
>
>
Ross & Janelle Gridley
Bendigo, Victoria, Australia
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