Hospital gives mother wrong baby to breastfeed, according to testimony

A British mother breastfed someone else's baby after hospital staff handed her the wrong newborn, a hearing was told.

The blunder occurred at Bassetlaw Hospital in Worksop, central England, after two new mothers allowed their restless babies to be moved to another area of the hospital, the Nottingham Post reported Tuesday.

Staff then handed the wrong babies to the unnamed women, known as Mother A and Mother B, and only realized the mix-up after one of the infants had been fed.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) heard that midwife Jill Ashmore tried to cover up the incident in November 2007, when she told Mother A that her baby had not been fed while they were separated.

"The baby had been fed -- breast-fed by Mother B who at the time had thought she was feeding her own baby," said David Clarke, for the NMC.

Ashmore failed to record the incident, and tried to persuade student midwife Claire Newton-Jones not to reveal the mistake, the hearing was told.

The midwife admitted that she did not record the incident, but denies misconduct. She will be barred from the profession if she is found guilty.

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