Kollam: Two babies were reunited with their actual parents six months after they were switched at birth at a hospital in Kollam. The parents had to undergo DNA tests under the aegis of the Child Welfare Committee to prove the callous treatment from the Medicity Hospital.
Ramsi from Mayyanad and Jazeera from Umayanalloor gave birth to their babies at the Medicity Hospital on October 22. The families’ joy was clouded by a suspicion about their babies being swapped.
Ramsi’s relatives had given the labor room staff a green towel but the baby was given to them wrapped in a yellow towel.
The baby given to Jazeera had a tag with Ramsi’s name on it.
Though the families aired their doubts immediately, the hospital staff and management played it down, Jazeera’s husband Noushad said. They said the towels might have been swapped, not the babies.
Three months later, Jazeera and Noushad were perplexed when they took the baby for vaccination. The child’s blood group was found to be O-positive, not A-positive as in the discharge summary provided by Medicity. They went the the hospital again but the management was still in denial mode, they said.
They later approached the Child Welfare Committee, which suggested a DNA test. Noushad’s family was allegedly offered money to give a statement that the babies were swapped outside the hospital premises.
Medicity management, however, denied any lapse from the hospital. The hospital had asked for an investigation as soon as the allegation was raised, the management said.