The case of a doctor performing surgery on the wrong baby has added to a growing trend of how hospitals handle newborns.
Experts said the disturbing case has become part of a dialogue about how hospitals across the country may change the way they do business when it comes to newborns.
Just hours after delivery, Nate was moved from the recovery room with his mother to a nursery at University Medical Center in Lebanon.
"The baby was perfect, healthy and beautiful," said Jennifer Melton about her newborn son.
Yet, a short time later, a doctor mistakenly performed a surgical procedure on Nate that was meant for another child. When his mom, heard the news of the mistake, she lost it.
"At that point I began to cry hysterically," said Melton.
"It's reckless. There's no excuse for cutting on a healthy child or mixing things up at a hospital," said malpractice attorney Clint Kelly.
Kelly said the doctor performed a frenulectomy. "The physician goes in with a scissors to cut skin to free the tongue in a child who is tongue-tied," said Kelly.
"I felt like someone took him from me and took him from the nursery and did what they wanted with him," said Melton.
To view the original story: Mother Of Newborn Says Hospital Performed Surgery On Her Healthy Baby
It was unclear how the mix-up occurred, but Nate's case has begged the question: Should babies, as standard procedure, always be put in hospital nurseries?
If Nate had just been left with his mother, Kelly said this all never would have happened. "How can you prevent a doctor or nurse from cutting on your child if you are not there with them?" asked Kelly.
There has been a growing trend nationally in hospitals, including here in middle Tennessee, to set up a mini-nursery for the child in the mother's room.
More and more hospitals here in Tennessee and across the country have become so-called "Baby Friendly."
Among other things, this gives new mothers the option of keeping their infants with them at all times.
As for baby Nate? His mother said he's 8-weeks-old and appears to be doing well.
