mongolian blue spot and child abuse

[upsetndistressed]

I have just returned from the hospital after the most distressing 24 hours. It all started innocently when I took my dd (aged 5 months old) to see the dr as she was crying unusually a lot and I thought her arm was hurting her (when I changed her clothes and massage her, she cried when I reached that arm). The doctor took one look and noted a 'bruise' on the arm. He then wrote a referral letter for the hospital where he implied that it may be non-accidental injury (ie. abuse). The doctors and consultant(!) in the hospital implied again that we may be abusing her. What a shock it was for dh and I! We would never dream of hurting our little girl. I mentioned that it could be a mongolian blue spot as she has quite a few all over. The consultant said that they cannot tell as they did not know it could appear on the arms and shoulders!! They even asked my permission to photograph it as if it is a mongolian blue spot, it would be useful for training purposes, being so rare there! Is this true? When I did a hasty check on the internet, mongolian blue spots have been noted on arms and shoulders. So why didn't the doctors and consultant know that?
They ran some tests and x-rays on dd and the results came back as normal. So we were allowed home. This incident has really distressed dh and I. In the first place, if the spots were recorded in her red book when she was first born, none of this would have occured. Apparently the health visitor was supposed to have done that. I remember clearly the health visitor mentioning it to me 'oh, she has these spots. totally normal', but obviously it was not recorded anywhere.
So upset and distressed...

[MammaGi]

My goodness. I am shocked at some of the things i read. surely the medical profession should be fully aware of where mongolian blue spots occur. we trust our medics to be fully informed, and so often, when i have been to the docs for whatever reason, i've sometimes ended up giving them information!! not to say that we shouldn't rely on medical professionals, cos we should, but we should all clue ourselves up as much as poss too. my daughter still has her mbs at 6 months old, bless her.

[Heysnooks]

My daughter, who is 6 weeks old and British/Indian, has one on her ankle - I initially thought it was my fault and i had been too rough with her while changing her nappy.

When it did not fade, I assumed it might be a birthmark of some sort.... Then, only last week, a nurse friend of mine told me about MBS. I had never heard of them before.

Not one health professional has mentioned it and it is not written in any of her notes. Have her 8 week check coming up so I will discuss it with the doctor and ask if she should make a note of it.

[MrsOwhat]

I can't believe so many hospitals are not making a note of these marks before they leave the hospital.

My DD was born with MBS in a few places and it was all written down.

Hey please make sure your Dr does make a note - you must insist.