Ministry of Health Reveals Chronology of Near Baby Swap at RSHS Bandung

The Ministry of Health stated that the issue of a baby nearly being swapped at Hasan Sadikin Hospital (RSHS) in Bandung serves as an evaluation for the future to ensure patient handling follows procedures, preventing similar incidents. Head of the Bureau of Communication and Public Information at the Ministry of Health, Aji Muhawarman, said that a team from the hospital had visited the patient’s home to apologise, and the family had also apologised, as the incident stemmed from a slight misunderstanding that went viral on social media. Aji explained that at the time, the patient, while 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 paediatric clinic, and her work was somewhat disrupted by this entrustment,” he said. Then, he added, 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 simply a mistake by the nurse there,” he said. According to him, this serves as a lesson to properly implement standard operating procedures (SOP). Patients should not casually entrust their children either. “There was indeed a slight misunderstanding in the field, and this has 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 stated. 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, then returned because she felt something was amiss. Upon returning, she found her child being carried by someone else. Nina mentioned that she recognised it was her child because of the clothes and blanket worn by the baby. When she called out to that person, she saw that the baby being carried was indeed hers.