Rina Naik, wife of Ramesh Naik, was deeply disappointed when she was told that she gave birth to a dead baby in the Keonjhar district headquarters hospital on Thursday last.
But after the couple left for their village Siriabahal in Telkoi block to perform the last rites, it was discovered that the baby she gave birth to was actually alive. By mistake, the hospital staff had handed over a dead child to the grief-stricken couple which belonged to another woman in the hospital.
Immediately, Rina was called back and her actual child was handed over to her. But how her baby could get exchanged, she wondered! locals demanded an inquiry into the baby swapping affair.
According to the reports, Rina was admitted to the hospital on December 15 and she gave birth to a male baby the same day. After Rina was discharged from hospital on December 22, she came back to the hospital on December 29 for another health check-up and seeking doctor's advice as her baby was ill.
On December 31 morning doctors informed her that her baby died in the SNCU. Carrying the dead child the couple returned home and performed the funeral rites. On January 3, Rina received a phone from the hospital to collect her child from the SNCU. Knowing that their baby was alive, they rushed to the hospital to collect their baby. The doctors in the hospital apologized for the mistake and told media that they are sorry about the incident and it was unintentional.
Another lady named Rina Naik from Champua had admitted her baby for treatment in the hospital who in fact died on December 31. Instead of handing over the dead child to Rina Naik of Champua, mistakenly the baby was handed over to Rina Naik of Telkoi but later the error came to their notice, the hospital authorities clarified. The district Collector has ordered an investigation into the matter.