At 10 am yesterday Tran Thi Thom, 34, the mother of the child, was approached by the woman who was dressed in a white blouse, mask, and cap. She said she had to take the baby for a blood test if it had been given a bath.
Thinking she was a nurse, Thom gave her her two-day-old son without thinking for a moment.
But more than an hour later she began to worry since the woman did not return.
Thom and her relatives then went to the doctor’s office to look for the woman but she was not there.
She then asked some doctors about her son but, after checking the work schedule, they said nobody had been assigned to give the child a blood test.
After searching for four hours in vain, the hospital complained to the Hoan Kiem District police.
Thom’s relatives who came to the hospital after her baby was kidnapped (Photo: An Ninh Thu Do)
The baby was the second child of Thom and Pham Xuan Trieu of Hung Yen Province.
Dr Nguyen Viet Tien, a Deputy Minister of Health and the hospital’s director, told Tuoi Tre yesterday that the hospital and police were looking for the woman and child.
The police had asked Thom about her acquaintances to determine whether the kidnapper was looking for ransom, revenge, or something else, he said.
“The culprit could be an outsider who pretended to be a doctor or nurse to kidnap the boy.
“Women should not hand their babies to someone unless they know for sure who they are. Mothers with newborn babies at hospitals can identify medical staff from their badges that carry their names and positions.
“This is the first such case in this hospital.”
Thom’s relatives who came to the hospital after her baby was kidnapped (Photo: An Ninh Thu Do)