That Poor Girl
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“I worked labor and delivery. Had a very young mother come in, accompanied by her parents. She was just 12-13 and parents looked stuffy and the dad kept telling her she should’ve had an abortion, she was too young, etc. Her mother was silent the whole time but leaked tears. While she labored, I received a call from a very young boy who said he was her boyfriend. His trembly voice explained that her father shouldn’t come to the hospital. I was confused but told him I couldn’t give out information but he could talk to her afterward.
I went in, told her he had called and she showed me a picture of him. He was white, straight red hair, pimply and tiny–the runt of the litter. About an hour later, her phys ed teacher stopped by to check on her, which I thought was odd. We didn’t get many teachers checking on students. He was as opposite of the boyfriend as he could get: tall, very muscular, beautiful smile, and rich, chocolate brown skin.
The girl’s father accompanied her to the delivery room. Odd, but ok. The more she pushed, the louder she cried. In between, she kept saying ‘sorry daddy.’ Finally, out slid a very beautiful, chocolate brown baby boy. I thought her father was going to pass out on my delivery room floor. I did my usual, ‘it’s a boy!’ and said nothing else. I handed him off to a nursery nurse and got dad a chair. The new mom said ‘I’m sorry daddy,’ over and over again. Her mom, now frowning, came to see the baby, took one look, started asking God for forgiveness, and left. I sent her dad home a short bit later, admonishing him to react at home, not here. I set up a time for our counselor to meet with him before I left. After talking to new mom, she admitted her gym teacher had been giving her ‘special treatment.’
I’m state mandated to report child abuse, so I did. Two weeks later, with her world shattered, her baby was given up for adoption. I wish her the best.”
The Ultrasound Told The Whole, Bad Story
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“I’m an ultrasound tech in the military. Had a lady come in for what was supposed to be here first-trimester Ultrasound. She was there with her husband and as I was scanning and talking with them it came out that the husband had only just come back from his deployment. When I started the exam I asked the mom when the first date of her last menstrual period was. The date she gave me should have made the baby 9-10 weeks. This lined up with the dad’s return from his deployment. As soon as I put the transducer down I knew the baby wasn’t 9-10 weeks. Yikes. I continue scanning and the first measurement put the baby at 22ish weeks. When you measure head or abdomen circumference it puts the gestational age on the screen. The dad glimpsed it and asked what it was and I said just some info on the baby. I did my best to block the view and when they asked questions about the baby I told them to speak with the OB doc. I wasn’t about to have them blow up and fight in the exam room. When they walked out, they were happy.”
He Manned Up And Took Responsibility When He Didn’t Have To
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“I am a nurse. Once had a couple come in, just them. The father was black and the mother was white. The father was so involved, so ecstatic about him becoming a father for the second time with this women. Nothing really seemed off, until she started pushing. The baby girl came out completely white, blonde hair and blue eyes. Usually, black babies come out a little pale, but this was just straight up white. We had to usher the father out for fear of him becoming violent, but he just sat outside the room, on the ground with his face in his hands. That was one of the saddest moments I think I’ve ever seen with a father, besides stillbirth.
Odd thing after though, the mom didn’t want the baby and wanted nothing to do with the ‘father,’ probably out of guilt. So she left the responsibility of this baby and their other 2-year-old boy to this man who didn’t even question taking on this child.”
Two Woes Turn Into A Happy Situation
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“My cousin was an obstetrics nurse in a central European country. There were two women were in the maternity ward. Sadly, one lady had delivered a stillborn baby and was terribly upset. She told my cousin that she and her husband had been trying for a baby for many years without success. She had difficulty conceiving, and they had a couple of miscarriages. She and her husband were overjoyed to carry a baby to term. The husband was not present in the ward that day, but the lady said he would be devastated to find out there was no baby.
The other lady delivered a healthy baby but was also upset. They were poor and already had 4 children at home. Their finances were stretched. She did not want to look after yet another baby. Her husband was very upset she was pregnant again (not that he was blameless, but that’s a different story). He was at work and was not at the hospital that day.
My cousin talked to the other nurses. No paperwork had been completed. So the staff put both women in the same room with the one healthy baby and suggested they may want to talk.
Forty minutes later, the lady without a child was holding the healthy baby. Both women looked happy and relieved. Few words were spoken, but the paperwork was written up by the staff to reverse the records of the two births. The lady who suffered a stillbirth went home with the baby she wanted and the other lady returned, relieved, to her home and the four other kids.
They were of the same ethnic background and had similar features so the swap probably went undetected.”
More Bad News On Top Of Bad News
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“I’m a nurse in a level 4 neonatal ICU. We service the sickest of the sick from our state and the surrounding states, so we see it all.
We had a baby that was sick as snot. Lo and behold we discovered its blood/spinal fluid was septic with herpes. In most babies, we avoid this by treating herpes while the Mom is pregnant.
In this case, the mom didn’t even know she was a carrier. So where did it come from? This is the awkward and sickening moment when everyone in the room realized where herpes came from. Turns out, the father had an affair and contracted the virus from his lover.
So yeah, while this woman’s baby is on the verge of death, she finds out her husband has been cheating on her and his cheating butt is the reason their baby is sick.”
Everything Turned Out OK In The End
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“My aunt is a nurse in the maternity ward. She had a couple come in and they were both black and very dark-skinned. The lady has a baby and it is white. Like, totally pale, no trace of any pigment. They put the baby on her mom and the mom starts yelling about how this isn’t her baby and they stole her baby (in all fairness, you can be very confused during/after delivery, it wasn’t stupidity), just sobbing and freaking out and the father is just sitting there and looks very confused because even he’s realizing that even if she did cheat, there is no way the baby would be THAT white. The doctor and nurses are trying to assure her that this is her baby and the skin usually darkens later. The supposed father didn’t know what to believe and needed to call his mom and inform her of what was going, and when he reached her, she informed him of some very shocking news.