The mother of a six-month-old baby was forced to spend the night in a cell after medics mistook her son’s birthmarks for bruises and police accused her of abuse.

Laxmi Thapa was left feeling ‘like a criminal’ after her son was taken away from her and she spent 20 hours in custody on suspicion of neglect.

Upon her release, the new mother endured another traumatic three days without her son and said her baby was ‘unhappy and sad and lost’ after their reunion.

The 29-year-old has now lodged a formal complaint against Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital and has accused the health service of discrimination as these ‘blue spots’ are common in mixed ethnicity, Black and Asian children.

The mother said she now lost confidence in going to the hospital for fear they will make ‘assumptions’ again.

‘I was really stressed emotionally after that,’ she said.

Laxmi Thapa was left feeling ‘like a criminal’ after her son was taken away from her and she spent 20 hours in custody on suspicion of neglect

Medics mistook her son’s birthmarks for bruises and police accused her of abuse. Blue spot is common in mixed ethnicity, Black and Asian children

Mrs Thapa was told after the birth of her son on November 19, 2023 that he had a blue spot – sometimes known as Mongolian blue spot – by hospital staff.

The mother was advised to monitor these markings and became concerned when they got darker and spread around the infant’s hands and shoulders.

On May 28, she contacted her GP who advised her to attend the emergency department at Basingstoke Hospital.

Upon visiting the hospital, Mrs Thapa – who moved to the town from Nepal 18 months ago – was asked to sign documents that she could not read before being told the police were outside.

The mother said a full check-up was not carried out. ‘They had already made assumptions,’she recalled.

‘One of the police officers took my mobile and my bag and said ‘You have to go into custody while we investigate’.

‘I said ‘why’ and she said ‘you have abused your baby’.’

Mrs Thapa said she was given no further information about her arrest or how long the investigation would take.

The mother described feeling ‘helpless’ when her baby was taken away from her and said she was not allowed to continue to breastfeed him – despite raising concerns about this.

‘I felt they were treating me like a criminal because I’m from another country and I’m another colour,’ she continued.

The 29-year-old has now lodged a formal complaint against Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital and has accused the health service of discrimination

‘I was judged by my colour and because my language was different.

‘I felt very discriminated against. I felt helpless and I tried to explain but they didn’t want to listen to me. I just kept thinking ‘What about my son’.’

Mrs Thapa, whose husband was away at the time, spent 20 hours in a cell and said she was not allowed to call anyone or see her son.

‘I said so many times ‘I’m breastfeeding, I need to express my milk every four to five hours’,’ she continued.

‘I requested to send the milk to my son. I asked ‘how is my son, how is he doing?’.

‘They said ‘Your son is not in danger, he’s OK in hospital’.’

Her family had no idea about the arrest and Mrs Thapa said she was questioned for up to two hours by two police officers, accompanied by a solicitor and interpreter on a phone call, before being released on bail.

However, it was another three days before she was reunited with her son on May 31, when the hospital finally recognised that the marks on his body were blue spots and not bruises.

She said the doctor who handed him over apologised, but the mother said the family are questioning why hospital staff failed to recognise the blue spot, despite it being recorded in the baby’s notes.

The mother said that when her son was returned to her, she ‘cried with happiness’ but soon realised that her baby was behaving differently.

‘He was so happy before, everyone said what a happy baby he is but when he came back, he wasn’t like before, he was not smiling,’ she told.

‘I had explained that he had eczema and shouldn’t be fed bottle milk but I was only allowed to supply express milk from home to feed my son.

‘It made the eczema worse after he left hospital. He was very unhappy and sad and lost.’

Following the trauma, Mrs Thapa said she is now afraid to take her son back to hospital for fear of being arrested again.

She said: ‘I lost my confidence in going to hospital in the future in case it happens again. I was really stressed emotionally after that.

‘I told them it’s blue spot, it’s normal but instead of doing a proper check and looking through the red book they made assumptions.’

Faye Wheeler – who founded Blue Spot Campaign – has assisted her in submitting a formal complaint to the hospital.

Ms Wheeler, from Basingstoke, has campaigned nationally after she too felt under suspicion of abusing her own son when doctors failed to recognise he had a blue spot.

The mother-of-two, who is a psychotherapist and racial disparities consultant, spoke of her disappointment in Mrs Thapa’s experiences and said that many other women whose children have this type of birthmark are also accused of abusing their baby.

She questioned why it was assumed that the mark was a bruise when blue spot is common in mixed ethnicity, Black and Asian children, why the baby’s previous records were not checked and why the mother was not given an interpreter.

Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said in response: ‘Safeguarding policies and procedures are designed to identify risks and protect children. In all cases reported to the police, experienced staff will have followed these guidelines.

‘We cannot comment on specific cases; however, safeguarding babies and children will always take priority.

‘Differentiating between suspected bruising and Mongolian blue spot is complex and protocols have to be followed.’

Detective Chief Inspector Gemma Anacora, from the northern child abuse investigation team of Hampshire Constabulary, said: ‘Any investigation involving a baby or young child is very emotive and can be distressing for all of those involved.

‘We understand the concerns raised, however we need to take each report at face value and carry out a thorough investigation to establish what has happened.

‘After receiving a number of medical reports and scans in this case we are now confident that an assault has not taken place.

‘We were contacted shortly before 7pm on Tuesday 28 May in relation to the concern for the welfare of a six-month-old boy who was receiving treatment at North Hampshire Hospital in Basingstoke.

‘The concerns raised were in line with agreed protocols that require police contact and as part of our enquiries a 29-year-old woman from Basingstoke was arrested on suspicion of assaulting, ill-treating, neglecting, or abandoning a child or young person to cause unnecessary suffering or injury, and attempting to assault a person thereby occasioning them actual bodily harm.

‘Following the results of various medical tests she has now been released without charge and will face no further action.’