Newborns Switched at Orange Hospital

Iliana Bravo and Brian Lambert had their newborn, Aaron Alexander, home for about 90 minutes Sunday when St. Joseph Hospital called: They’d been given the wrong baby.

“A baby was mistakenly released to the wrong parents this afternoon,” said hospital spokeswoman Valerie Orleans. “The minute they realized there was a mistake . . . from looking at the armband, [hospital officials] called.”

Sunday evening, Bravo, Lambert and another couple sat stunned and distraught for hours at the hospital while officials scrambled unsuccessfully to find a laboratory that could do emergency DNA blood work on the two baby boys. The other couple asked not to be identified.

Four nurses were temporarily suspended late Sunday pending an investigation, said Katie Skelton, vice president of patient care services.

Both Bravo’s wristband and the baby’s were clipped and placed side by side on discharge papers before the couple left the hospital for their Tustin home, according to standard hospital procedure, Skelton said. But, she said, the ID numbers on the bands were not compared until the other mother went to feed her baby and a nurse discovered the mix-up.

It appeared to be a case of “human error,” Skelton said.

Late Sunday, both couples were told their babies would have to remain at the hospital until Tuesday so genetic tests could be done.

An exhausted Lambert, 40, left for home and his 3-year-old daughter, Naomi. But his 34-year-old wife refused to leave.

“They’re almost positive it’s the real baby, but they just want to be sure,” Lambert said. “My wife is not happy. She’s requested to stay at the hospital because she’s afraid to let the baby out of her sight.”

Lambert, a processing clerk, said he had been grocery shopping about 3 p.m. Sunday when he was paged over the store loudspeaker.

“As soon as I heard my name, I knew there was something wrong,” he said. It was his wife calling. She had just breast-fed the infant she thought was her own when a hospital official phoned with the news.

Lambert said he raced home and immediately double-checked the ID number on his wristband against a second band still on the baby’s tiny wrist. The numbers didn’t match. Neither did the date of birth. Their son was born at 2:30 p.m. Friday. The infant’s wristband said he had been born at 8:09 p.m. Thursday. The couple hurried to the hospital, cradling the boy that belonged to someone else. A phalanx of hospital security and embarrassed officials was waiting.

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“When my wife saw her real child,” Lambert said, “she just out-and-out bawled. She just cried her heart out.” Lambert said both he and his wife had asked a nurse as they left the hospital why the baby’s crying sounded more hoarse than the day before. The nurse, he said, assured them it was normal. Lambert said he also commented to his wife that the baby’s chin had filled out a little bit since he was born Friday, and that a scratch or birthmark appeared to be gone.

But, he said, they never imagined they had the wrong child.

At the hospital Sunday, Lambert said he commiserated with the other father while they waited for officials to decide what to do.

Orleans, the hospital spokeswoman, said, “Obviously, there’s going to be severe disciplinary action if it is determined hospital policy was not followed. The hospital’s policy is to check armbands.”

Lambert said no one had checked his wristband or the baby’s during discharge procedures. Fathers at St. Joseph also are given wristbands.

Orleans said it was the first time in the hospital’s 70-year history that a baby had been released to the wrong parents. About 5,500 babies a year are born there.

Experts say the risk of a newborn being switched or kidnapped is extremely low but that temporary mistakes are more common.

About 4 million babies are born each year in the U.S. Since 1995, four switches of newborns and seven abductions have been reported to the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, which accredits hospitals nationwide.

Times photographer Geraldine Wilkins-Kasinga contributed to this story.