Newborn babies rest in a neonatal care unit at the Roberto Santos Hospital in Salvador, Bahia state, Brazil, on October 17, 2022. (Photo by Rafael Martins / AFP) (Photo by RAFAEL MARTINS/AFP via Getty Images)
First-time parents Consuelo Saravia and Fidel Sinclair were heartbroken to see a nurse slamming their newborn inside a bassinet. At the time, their son Nikko was only two days old.
According to NBC New York, Good Samaritan Hospital doctors had kept the newborn in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for antibiotics-related observation. The hospital is located in Long Island, New York.
Fidel told the outlet that God sent him to check on his son. Though curtains covered the NICU area, Fidel could see Nikko through a small opening. But what he saw was far from intensive care or gentle observation. Instead, the father filmed a female nurse picking up his crying son and seemingly slamming him face-first into the bassinet.
“If it wasn’t for God who sent me to check on him we would have never seen any of that happen,” Fidel told NBC New York. “And it would have kept happening overnight not only to him but the other babies too.”
At this time, Nikko is at home with his parents and reportedly didn’t sustain any injuries from the nurse’s rough handling.
Good Samaritan Hospital’s parent company, Catholic Health, released a statement responding to the incident. The hospital has fired the nurse responsible, but her identity hasn’t been released to the public.
“Upon learning of this incident, swift and immediate action was taken, including conducting an investigation and consequently terminating the individual involved. Additionally, we reported the individual to the Department of Health for further review. Keeping our patients safe remains our paramount concern.”
Fidel says seeing Nikko slammed “broke” him. Though unsure of what to do, he showed Consuelo the video. The mother reacted by confronting the nurse.
“I told her ‘I don’t want you to touch my child. You just slammed him,” she told NBC New York. “She said, ‘oh no, if you think I mishandled him or anything, I’m sorry.”
But Consuelo didn’t stop there. She alerted other nurses and administrators of the incident by showing them the video. Since no security cameras are in the NICU area, Fidel’s video played a significant role in launching the investigation and subsequent firing.
Catholic Health also explained the use of curtains in the NICU area.
“It is standard procedure to have closed curtains in the neonatal ICU to provide privacy for the patients and their families and because services are being administered at the bedside. Immediate family members are permitted inside the neonatal ICU to spend time with their loved ones.”
