A doctor from University Medical Center in Lebanon, Tennessee performed mistakenly a procedure called frenectomy in which the flap of the skin under the tongue is cut to a healthy baby Nate.
"The baby was perfect, healthy and beautiful," Jennifer Melton, the mother of baby Nate said. She thought that it would only be a routine physical check-up when they took baby Nate. When the baby was returned to her, the nurse said that frenectomy was performed to baby Nate to free up the muscles range of motion and for easier breastfeeding.
"At that point, the nurse started to mention the procedure they had done, that they had clipped his tongue...Essentially, they took our child, who was healthy, from the room and cut his mouth. At that point, I began to cry hysterically," mother Jennifer said.
"It's recklessness. There is no excuse for cutting on a healthy child. There's no excuse for mixing up babies at a hospital," Clint Kelly, the attorney of Melton said.
Parenting reports that the doctor asked for an apology. "I had asked for the wrong infant. I had likely performed the procedure on an infant different than the one I intended to...and I admitted my mistakes and apologized," the doctor who executed the procedure said.
Melton said that they were sorry for the mistake but she and her attorney were worried about the effect of the wrong surgery to baby Nate.
"We don't know if the child will have speech problems or eating problems. The concern here is this was a healthy baby that was supposed to leave the hospital, but instead was harmed by the hospital," Kelly said.
News Channel 5 reports that the University Of Medical Center refused to give any comments on what happened and mentioned federal privacy regulations.
