VietNamNet Bridge – Ha Noi’s Department of Health has officially provided comprehensive information about the delivery of two new-borns to the wrong parents at Ba Vi District’s General Hospital six years ago, a case which has drawn public attention in recent days.

Ha Noi’s Department of Health has officially provided comprehensive information about the delivery of two new-borns to the wrong parents at Ba Vi District’s General Hospital six years ago, a case which has drawn public attention in recent days.— Photo soha.vn

On July 11, the Ministry of Health received a letter from Phung Giang Son, a resident of Ba Vi District, to complain about the error of Ba Vi General Hospital, which had given him the wrong baby in 2012.

In the letter, Son said his wife, Phung Thi Thu Hien, gave birth on November 1, 2012 at the hospital. When receiving the new-born, he and his wife were suspicious because the baby wore a diaper different from the one they had seen him before. However, the doctors insisted the baby was theirs.

As the boy grew up, he looked different from the couple. They took DNA tests and found that the boy was not their biological child.

The couple later worked with the hospital, which tracked down the other family involved in the mix-up of the two new-borns. Vu Thi Huong, who lived about ten kilometres away from Son’s house, was raising Son’s biological son.

A report from the hospital revealed that as soon as it received complaints about the baby mix-up on March 23, the hospital revised medical records to verify the incident.

The record now states that on November 1, 2012, the hospital received two pregnant women.

Vu Thi Huong, 35, in Phu Son Commune, delivered a baby boy weighing 3.8kg at 6.50am the next morning. She named the boy Doan Nhat M.

Phung Thi Thu Hien, 29, in Tay Dang Commune, delivered a baby boy weighing 3.1kg 20 minutes later. Hien named her child Phung Thanh H.

The DNA tests at the Ministry of Public Security’s Criminal Science Institute supplied by Phung Giang Son, father of Phung Thanh H, showed that there was a mix-up in delivering the two baby boys. Hien and Son, in fact, were the biological parents of M, and Huong was the biological parent of H.

The Department of Health sent a document requiring the hospital to clarify the incident and closely work with the two families to resolve it. The hospital was also asked to find out those who took responsibility for the error and report the result to the department.

Ba Vi General Hospital admitted the error. Nguyen Quoc Hung, director of the hospital, said that the hospital had disciplined medical workers involved in the delivery of the two new-borns on that day.

Vu Thi Thanh Mai, a physician, and Nguyen Thi Duc, a midwife, received warnings and a reprimand for their violations. They were forced to stop practising the obstetrics profession and will no longer work at tasks such as delivering babies, giving baths or caring for babies.

Dr Nguyen Hong Quang is required to get experience in urging medical workers to strictly follow their professional regulations.

At the same time, the hospital has reviewed all technical and professional procedures in obstetrics department to avoid error in delivering new-borns to their parents. The practices of numbering mothers and children immediately after the birth and receiving signatures from parents when they receive babies must be strictly followed.

Hung said the hospital had covered all the costs of taking DNA tests and some other expenses worth VND47.5 million (US$2,090) following Son’s request.    

On April 14, the hospital representative met with both families and promised to help return the boys to their families. However, the hospital claims the amount of compensation the affected families have requested is too high.

The amount worth VND300 million ($13,200) exceeds the hospital’s payment capacity. As a result, the hospital sent documents to the district’s People’s Court to consider the case according to the current law, he said.

At the meeting with the hospital last Friday, Vu Cao Cuong of the Health Department asked the hospital to meet with the two families and come up with solutions to the incident before July 20.

He reminded the hospital about the goal of reuniting the two boys with their biological parents, and told the hospital to compensate the families based on the current regulations.

On the same day, the department required all hospitals to revise professional and technical procedures in obstetrics to avoid the mix-up of new-borns.

The department assigned Ha Noi’s Maternity Hospital to provide training and guidance to units implementing obstetric procedures to avoid mistakes. 

Source: VNS