Health Ministry: Near Baby Swap Incident at Bandung's Hasan Sadikin Hospital Serves as Service Evaluation

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Health has stated that the issue of a baby nearly being swapped at Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung will serve as an evaluation for future improvements to ensure patient handling follows procedures, preventing similar incidents from occurring. Head of the Bureau of Communication and Public Information of the Ministry of Health, Aji Muhawarman, said in Jakarta on Friday that a team from the hospital had already visited the patient’s home to apologise, and the family had also apologised, as the incident arose from a slight misunderstanding that went viral on social media. Aji explained that at the time, the patient, who was completing administrative processes, entrusted her baby to a healthcare worker. “And the healthcare worker there is not solely tasked with handling babies; she is in the child clinic, and her work was somewhat disrupted by the entrustment,” he said. Then, he continued, when the mother returned to retrieve her child, whether due to the healthcare worker forgetting or for another reason, the baby was unintentionally handed over to someone else. “So there was no intent for anything beyond that, such as kidnapping or crime; there was no such intention. It was truly just a lapse by the nurse there,” he said. “There was indeed just a slight misunderstanding in the field, and this has already been resolved. It has even been reported to the Governor, the Governor of West Java, and he has appreciated what we have done at Hasan Sadikin Hospital,” he added. Previously, on social media, a mother named Nina Saleha (27) shared her experience of nearly having her baby swapped. In the post, the mother said she left her child briefly and then returned because she felt something was amiss. Upon returning, she found her child being carried by someone else. Nina mentioned that she knew it was her child because the clothes and blanket were the same as her child’s. When she called out to that person, she saw that the baby being carried was indeed hers. She then asked the nurse for an explanation, who said she had called Nina several times. However, due to no response, the nurse handed the baby to someone else. The baby’s identification bracelet, she said, had also been cut by the nurse.