An illustrative image of a hospital setting where two cases of mistaken newborn identity tags occurred in South Korea.Two consecutive cases of mistaken identification tags for newborns have occurred in South Korea (Illustration: Unsplash).
According to information published in Chosun, two cases of newborns almost being swapped at hospitals have recently been reported in South Korea.
In the first case, a nurse in the delivery room attached mother A’s identification bracelet to mother B’s baby without verifying the identity, then transferred the infant to the intensive care unit. This error was later discovered during a system check, and the bracelet was immediately replaced.
At another hospital, the anesthesia department also mistakenly attached mother C’s label to mother D’s baby’s identification bracelet. The incident was discovered shortly after, and the baby’s bracelet was corrected.
Following these incidents, the Korea Institute for Healthcare Accreditation (KAHF) issued a “Patient Safety Alert” titled “Accurate Verification of Mothers and Newborns at Birth is Essential.”
The Institute warned that newborn mix-up incidents can cause significant harm to mothers and families, while also eroding trust in healthcare facilities. Therefore, extraordinary caution from medical staff is paramount.
“Establishing patient identification standards during childbirth and accurately verifying these standards at each stage of the process is extremely important,” KAHF emphasized.
Therefore, hospitals need to establish clear verification standards for each stage of birth and standardize procedures with checklists to avoid missing identification steps. Additionally, the institute encouraged the use of two parallel identification indicators to increase accuracy.
