The mix-up with two newborn babies, who were given to the wrong mothers to breastfeed in a Victorian private hospital, highlights the importance of keeping mums and babies together, according to one expert.

Australian College of Midwives spokesperson and University of Western Sydney Associate Professor of Midwifery Hannah Dahlen said the mix-up was one of the most common mistakes that happen on a maternity ward.

“It’s actually not uncommon,” she said.

“It’s a very good example of why we need to keep mothers and babies together.

“There’s a greater tendency to send your baby off to a nursery in a private hospital compared to a public hospital. We encourage the babies to be with their mothers.

“The more times you take a baby from a mother and return them, the greater the risk of having a mix-up.”

The switch occurred at St John of God Hospital in Geelong when a nurse failed to check the babies’ name bracelets while removing them from their cots in the special-care nursery on July 15 at about 6.30am.

The babies were delivered to the wrong mothers, who cared for them for more than eight hours, until a relative noticed an unfamiliar name on one of the bracelets and alerted staff.

The usual protocol is for staff to check the names on bracelets worn by babies and mothers before any handover but Associate Professor Dahlen said the best protocols can often get waylaid when midwives are overworked.

“You can put all of the best policies and guidelines in place…that’s all good and well in a world where we have plenty of staff and midwives and everything is running as it should be.

“Midwives are very overworked. We have a massive workforce shortage.

“If we don’t provide women with the right level of care and midwives with the right workload, we know mistakes happen because people take short cuts.”

Associate Professor Dahlen said the nurse responsible for the mistake would “feel terrible” and while it was a major error she said it was unlikely anyone had been harmed.

“Let’s put it in perspective,” she said.

“Those babies have both had cuddles. The risks associated with breast milk from another woman are extremely low.