ORANGE PARK, Florida — Jacksonville-area parents claim their newborn was given to another mother for breastfeeding.
It’s said to be one of the happiest moments of your life when your baby is born.
But for Albert Phillips, the memory was tainted when their newborn was mistakenly given to the wrong mother.
“To me, this is more than just a mistake. This is bigger than a mistake,” Phillips said.
Phillips said the nurses at Orange Park Medical Center came to take their son, Roman, for his circumcision surgery. When the baby was gone for more than an hour, Phillips said he started questioning the medical staff.
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“They came back about an hour, hour and a half afterwards to inform us that they gave my son to another parent and that parent breast-fed him,” Phillips said.
Phillips said their son was wearing two hospital wristbands and he doesn’t understand how another woman was able to breastfeed their newborn.
“You have all these protocols into place to where this doesn’t happen, and you just gave my child to another mother,” Phillips said.
The parents’ main concern is their child’s health. Phillips said the hospital isn’t giving them any answers regarding the other woman who breastfed their baby.
“They told us we couldn’t get any information from her because of the HIPAA law (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) and that right there was very uncomfortable,” Phillips said.
The hospital is now investigating how the mix-up happened and sent Action News Jax the following statement:
“The hospital will do everything we can to follow the family’s wishes and support the family.”
The parents said they want tests run on their son to check for any health issues, but the hospital said he is too young and they will have to wait and see if there are any problems.
The parents also said they have been speaking with lawyers all day and plan to pursue legal action.
The Agency for Health Care Administration is also looking into the situation.