An investigation was under way at a hospital in Cork city yesterday after two mothers with the same surname ended up nursing each other's babies following a mix-up in the nursery.
Ms Teresa McGrath (22), from Mitchelstown, Co Cork, delivered her baby boy, Marcus, on Tuesday at 7.45 p.m. in St Finbarr's hospital.
Four and a half hours later another baby boy with the same surname was born.
Both mothers bonded with their children for a few hours before handing them over to staff in the hospital's nursery for the night.
On Wednesday morning the two mothers were given babies which they believed to be their own.
Ms Teresa McGrath noticed the mix-up at 10 p.m. that night when she looked at the baby's tag. She raised the situation with staff and the correct baby was returned to her an hour later.
She said the mix-up was "deeply upsetting" as her relatives took pictures of her washing and cuddling the wrong baby.
She has asked for a DNA test from the hospital in order to ensure that she has the correct child. "I am 99 per cent sure I have my baby now but I want to be 100 per cent sure. It is so upsetting. This is my first baby and I didn't even have him for his first day."
The other mother, who declined to be named, was said to have been very troubled by the incident. She had breast fed Ms McGrath's child thinking he was her own and is said to have felt cheated out of bonding time with her son.
The general manager of the Cork University Hospital Group, Mr Tony McNamara, said it had been a very unfortunate mistake which could be attributed to human error.
He apologised to both sets of parents, adding that every effort would be made to avoid a similar situation in future.
"This is a very unfortunate incident. Both babies were tagged correctly and put into the correct cots but the wrong baby was picked up."