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GREEN BAY, WI -- A Green Bay, Wisconsin mom wants answers after she says she was taking care of the wrong baby for almost three hours at a local hospital.
Amy Amschler said her son, Henry, was given to another couple for several hours after he was born at Saint Mary's Hospital in Green Bay four months ago. Instead, Amschler was given the other couple's infant.
Amschler said she was told by the hospital it was a "breech in protocol," after the wrong crib with the wrong baby was brought to her just a day after her delivery.
Now Amschler wants to know who had her baby while she was nursing someone else's child.
"I remember thinking something was wrong with my son," recalls Amschler.
I didn't believe them at first. I didn't believe them. I think they had to tell me three times.
–Amy Amschler
She said three officials with St. Mary's asked her guest to leave the room and then told her hospital protocol had not been followed.
"They told me they hadn't checked the band numbers. Henry had been put in a different baby crib, so they brought back Henry's crib to me but it was a different baby," she said.
After the switch, Amschler breast fed and changed the baby.
"I didn't believe them at first. I didn't believe them. I think they had to tell me three times," she said.
When Amschler looked at her hospital records, the nurses notes also indicated the other family thought something was wrong. The father of the other baby was asking why the umbilical cord was clamped again when the clamp was removed the day before.
Later, the hospital put Amschler through a series of tests, since she had exchanged bodily fluids with the other baby. The parents wanted peace of mind, so they reached out to Mike Bray's company called Right Choice to set up a DNA test to make sure they had the right baby.
In order for us to be in compliance with federal HIPPA regulations it would be inappropriate for us to comment or release information about anyone who may or may not have been a patient at any of our hospitals.
–Prepared Statement
"What they told me was that the baby was switched in the hospital for a certain amount of time and wanted to verify that the baby they took home was theirs," said Bray.
The baby was theirs according to the tests, paid for by St. Mary's. When NBC affiliate WGBA reached out to St. Mary's for an interview or comment, they received the following statement:
"In order for us to be in compliance with federal HIPPA regulations it would be inappropriate for us to comment or release information about anyone who may or may not have been a patient at any of our hospitals."
Amschler wanted the hospital to tell her where her baby was for that three hour period and who the mother was that was given her baby.
"She's the only one that really understands what I feel like," Amschler said.
Amschler's hope is that this story will help her find the mother of the baby she cradled for almost three hours and be a warning to other moms to always check their baby's I.D. bracelet. Amschler also filed a complaint against the hospital with the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services.
