Well, it sounded like you thought it was okay, quote “By the way, the parents did get the baby back, only a little worse for wear, after six days.”
Should I insist that the baby is irremediably damaged, even if the mom says the baby is OK? I don't think Mary wanted everyone to be concerned that her child had not come back yet.
By the way, "by the way" is a flag indicating that what follows is not crucial to the issue at hand.