Lawsuit claims hospital swapped babies in breast-feeding mix-up

Baby Feet of baby girl being held by mother (iStock)

A New Jersey mother is suing The Valley Hospital over what she claims was a failure to check the identification bracelet of her newborn daughter in a breast-feeding mix-up. Melissa Richman, 39, said that during the alleged mix up, a maternity ward staff member brought a baby to her for a 4:30 a.m. feeding, but returned 20 minutes later to take the infant back.

“She actually said ‘There was a terrible mistake,’” Richman told NBC 4 New York. “’This was not your baby.’”

Richman told the news outlet she had already nursed the wrong baby for 20 minutes, so when her own daughter was brought in her milk supply was depleted.

“She was frustrated and upset because there was really nothing left for her,” Richman told NBC 4 New York.

A spokeswoman declined to comment when contacted by the news outlet, but an attorney representing Richman and her husband said medical records describing the birth make no mention of the mix-up.

“Who is the other baby? Is the other baby health? Who are those other parents?” Rosemarie Arnold, the Richman’s attorney, told NBC 4 New York. “Maybe they’re out there and maybe they’re watching this and they’re going to say to themselves, ‘Oh my God, that is us!’”