Baby swapping alleged at Nayagarh district hospital, CDMO orders probe

A man has brought serious allegations of baby swapping at the Nayagarh District Headquarters Hospital.

Prabhat Kumar Behera, a native of Odogaon, alleged that his wife delivered a baby boy at the hospital and subsequently the infant was swapped with a girl child.

As per Behera’s allegation, he was asked by an ASHA worker to bring clothes from his house after the delivery of the baby. When he was away at home, the ASHA worker allegedly took away the infant without the knowledge of his mother on the pretext of weight measurement. 

When Behera returned to the hospital, he found that the infant has been swapped with a baby girl.

Behera then lodged a complaint about the swapping of the infant following which Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) of Nayagarh District Headquarters Hospital ordered an investigation into the incident.

“I was informed after two hours that I have been blessed with a baby girl. But, my wife was kept into oblivion about it. Earlier, I have heard that infants are swapped at Nayagarh hospital. Hence, I had doubt in my mind,” said Behera.

“My wife also told me that the health workers were talking about her giving birth to a baby boy. But, they informed us after two hours that we have been blessed with a baby girl. After being suspicious over the development, I have lodged the complaint,” he added.

Responding to the allegations, Nayagarh District Headquarters Hospital CDMO Ramakant Panda said, “We have already ordered an investigation into the incident after receiving the complaint.”

“After the completion of the investigation, more information in this regard could be divulged,” said Panda.