Mother Fears HIV Exposure After Breast-Feeding Another’s Baby

A woman who accidentally breast-fed someone else’s newborn plans to sue the hospital that mixed up the babies after she was told the other child could have the AIDS virus, her lawyer said Tuesday.

The mother of the other baby has tested positive for the human immunodeficiency virus, but it’s too early to tell if the baby has the virus also, lawyer Ken Sobel said. Broward General Hospital refused to discuss the case.

Sobel said his client and her baby have tested negative for HIV and he conceded that the odds are low that she could contract HIV through breast-feeding. But he said the mix-up has caused serious problems for the woman.

“This mother has been very damaged,” Sobel said. “She has been deprived of the right to breast-feed her own child. She can’t now. We have to recognize the health benefits of breast-feeding.”

The two must be tested again in October after the six-month detection period passes, he said.

Sobel said the woman, whom he identified only as Jane Doe of Fort Lauderdale, delivered her baby in April at Broward General.

She breast-fed the wrong baby for a few moments before noticing it wasn’t hers and calling a nurse. She later breast-fed her own child at least twice before she was notified of the other woman’s HIV status, meaning that her child could have been exposed to HIV as well, Sobel said.