If allegations by a Chicago couple are accurate, an Evanston Hospital staffer handed new mom Jennifer Spiegel the wrong baby, as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times. A shocked nurse saw Mrs. Spiegel breast-feeding the boy and realized it wasn't her son.
The nurse told her that she was just with their actual son and that the baby she was feeding "isn't yours." So Mrs. Spiegel filed a negligence lawsuit, telling reporters that news of the alleged mix-up gave her "an awful, internal feeling."
Mrs. Spiegel's husband Scott just so happens to be an Illinois injury attorney and is handling the case himself.
The Chicago couple's suit against Evanston Hospital and its corporate parent NorthShore University HealthSystem are named as defendants in the suit filed in Cook County Circuit Court. The Spiegel's are seeking more than $30,000 in damages.
No one was physically injured in the incident and Mrs. Spiegel's obstetrician assured her that there was just a very slim chance that the breast feeding session could have transmitted disease or virus in either direction. A spokeswoman for the hospital told reporters that the corporate office had no knowledge of the lawsuit and declined to comment.
Former head of pediatrics at the University of Chicago Lawrence Gartner told the Sun-Times that mix-ups like this one probably happen occasionally but that it shouldn't affect the mother-child bond. Reporters also pointed to the tradition of wet nurses, who breast-feed the children of aristocrats or other wealthy mothers.
But Mrs. Spiegel explained to reporters that the alleged mix-up had a serious psychological impact:
Jennifer Spiegel said after breast-feeding the boy and then being told of the mix-up, she was exhausted and worried. She wondered, "Was he with someone else? Where is he?"
The technician responsible for the alleged mix-up verbally apologized to Mr. and Mrs. Spiegel.
Related Resources:
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Negligence: Background (FindLaw)
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Directory of Chicago Injury Lawyers (FindLaw)
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