Chapter 3 - THE EXTRA BAND
Linda Cho asked them not to assume the photocopied ankle band belonged to the baby discharged with Claire.
Hospital newborn labels often used shortened formats.
Multiple stickers could exist.
Voided labels might be printed during band replacement.
The medical-record number mattered.
The number on the photocopy matched:
the other Claire Carter’s baby.
Margaret looked triumphant.
Claire felt sick.
Then Linda asked:
“Where is the original band?”
Margaret did not have it.
She had a photocopy.
Who copied it?
A person named:
Rebecca Sloan.
Former unit clerk at St. Anne’s.
Margaret knew Rebecca from church.
Claire stared.
“You contacted hospital staff privately?”
“Former staff.”
Rebecca had retired six months earlier.
She had no current chart access.
Margaret told her about the demographic sheet.
Rebecca said:
“If the wrong newborn paperwork was in your bag, ask whether there was a band reprint.”
Why?
Band printers occasionally jammed.
A reprint could produce duplicates.
If a wrong chart was selected, labels might print before the error was caught.
Margaret then remembered seeing a loose ankle band in the maternity-room trash on discharge morning.
She had picked it up.
Not smart.
Not sterile.
But she did.
The printed number did not match the discharge card she later checked.
She photographed it.
Then left the original in the room trash.
Rebecca enlarged the photo and identified the number.
That became the photocopy.
Daniel stared.
“So the original evidence is a photo of something you pulled out of a trash can.”
“Yes.”
“Something that may have been intentionally discarded.”
“Yes.”
“You turned that into proof our son was switched.”
“I turned it into a question.”
Claire said:
“You told Daniel he wasn’t his son.”
Margaret looked away.
Then Linda’s preliminary system review found a band reprint.
At 2:11 a.m. on Noah’s second night:
one infant band set was reprinted.
Reason:
damaged band.
Chart:
Claire Marie Carter’s baby.
The other Claire.
Not Noah.
Then at 2:14 a.m.:
another band set reprinted.
Chart:
Claire Anne Carter’s baby.
Noah.
Reason:
sensor tag replacement.
Two reprints.
Three minutes apart.
Margaret pointed at the timestamps.
“Exactly.”
Linda replied:
“Exactly what?”
“The babies were handled at the same time.”
“That is not what the log says.”
Then another record appeared.
At 2:12 a.m. Noah’s bassinet security tag lost communication.
At 2:14:
new tag assigned.
At 2:16:
normal monitoring restored.
The other baby had a damaged ankle band around the same period.
Could someone have confused the two?
Possible in theory.
Did the logs show a swap?
No.
Then Linda found bedside barcode scans.
At 2:05 a.m., Noah’s ID matched Claire Anne Carter before feeding.
At 2:21 a.m., Noah’s ID matched Claire Anne Carter after tag replacement.
No mismatch alert.
Then Margaret asked:
“What happened between 2:05 and 2:21?”
Sixteen minutes.
A gap.
Not necessarily suspicious.
But enough for Margaret.
Then Daniel asked:
“Was Noah ever taken out of our room?”
Claire remembered.
“Yes.”
A nurse took him for a weight check because the room scale had malfunctioned.
What time?
Around two.
Margaret’s face changed.
May you like
There was her theory.
Noah left the room during the exact window when another same-name baby also had an ID-band issue.
