NJ mom: I was given the wrong baby to breastfeed at birth

RIDGEWOOD — A North Jersey mother who said she given the wrong baby for breast feeding hours after birth is suing the hospital because they didn't properly check the identity bracelet.

NBC 4 New York reported that Melissa Richman, 39 of Ridgewood, began to breast feed the infant girl she thought was hers. Twenty minutes later, a nurse told her there had been a "terrible mistake" — the baby belonged to different mother.

A message left for Valley Hospital spokeswoman Melissa Curran has not yet been returned.

Melissa and her husband David were not only concerned about their own daughter not getting colostrum — the milk produced by a pregnant woman's breasts — but concerned about the effect Melissa's breast milk will have on the other baby, because their medical record does not mention the mix up.

Colostrum is a healthy breast milk that gives infants nutrients immediately after birth. Their own daughter was disappointed that there was nothing left for her, the report said.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com.