Mother Sues Hospital That — Oops! — Let Her Breastfeed Wrong Baby

I have to admit, I laughed when Pam breastfed the wrong baby on last week’s episode of “The Office.” However, it’s no laughing matter for a real-life mother who was handed somebody else’s newborn and then breast-fed him — which is why she is suing the hospital for at LEAST $30,000.

D’oh.

The scoop, according to Chicago Sun-Times:

The day after her son was born, Jennifer Spiegel was awakened about 4 a.m. in her Evanston Hospital room and told by a staffer, “Your baby wants you.”

A patient-care technician then wheeled a newborn in and handed him to Spiegel, who breast-fed him.

But it wasn’t her son, according to a lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court.

A surprised nurse walked in while Spiegel was breast-feeding the boy and realized the mix-up, the Spiegels told the Chicago Sun-Times.

“The nurse saw Jennifer and looked very surprised. She told us … ‘I was just with your baby in the nursery,’ ” said Jennifer’s husband, Scott, who was in the room at the time.

“She said, ‘The baby you’re feeding isn’t yours,’ ” Jennifer Spiegel, 33, recalled. “It was just an awful, internal feeling.”

The Spiegels said they didn’t notice they had the wrong baby because he was swaddled up to his chin and wearing a cap — and it was the middle of the night.

“I couldn’t see his hair,” Jennifer Spiegel said.

The patient-care technician offered a tearful apology, which they accepted, Scott Spiegel said.

“But it’s not enough,” he added.

So, really, they didn’t accept it.  Perhaps even odder than unknowingly nursing a stranger’s baby:  they are filing this lawsuit TWO YEARS after the incident happened.  Hmmmm… been hit by the recession, huh, guys?

From what I’ve read, Evanston Hospital follows the same procedure that many other hospitals do, whereby they ask parents to verify their matching I.D. bracelet before handing over the baby.  Would not be surprised if the mom, being utterly exhausted, just shook her head “yes” without even looking.  I’m not saying the hospital wasn’t in the wrong — it obviously was — but to the tune of thirty grand…?  C’mon.  I mean, we’ve ALL stuck a breast in a stranger’s mouth at some point and survived just fine, right?  Um… right?  (Yeah, no, me neither! Ha, ha! Just kidding. *Ahem*)