Police investigate Czech hospital baby-swap case

Two new mothers sent home with each other’s baby, which they raised as their own for months, were today still waiting for an explanation from the hospital.

As police were called in to investigate the Czech clinic in Trebic, 100 miles from Prague, both sets of parents were meeting to discuss how best to return the baby girls to their rightful homes.

And a government spokesman said he could not be sure that similar mix-ups had not happened before.

A police spokeswoman said the inquiry was in its early stages.

The apparent accidental swap happened last December and was discovered only recently.

Libor Broza, became suspicious because his daughter Nikola did not resemble him and had his fears confirmed by a DNA test.

His partner Jaroslava Trojanova then also had a test and discovered the girl was not her daughter.

They managed to trace the other couple, Jan Cermak and his wife, Jaroslava Cermakova, who lived 20 miles away.

Both couples, who met last week for the first time and were introduced to each other’s girls, have agreed to swap their daughters before the end of the year.

“Our daughter looks so much like me that I don’t need any DNA tests to know she is mine,” Mr Broza said.

“Of course, we are happy, but on the other hand we also feel terrible,” his wife added.

The hospital said in a statement today it was co-operating with the police and that it was about to finish its own internal investigation into what it called a “regrettable case.”

Czech Health Minister Tomas Julinek said he could not rule out the possibility that similar mix-ups have happened in the past.

The couples reportedly planned to seek damages from the hospital.

Today they were getting to know each other and their real babies. They were also exchanging information about the girls, including what they like to eat, what illnesses they’ve had and what their favourite fairy tales are.

“The main reason for the meeting is to get the families ready for the exchange and learn more about each other,” said a psychologist helping them through the transition.

“It will be more difficult for the mothers to cope with it than for the children,” she said.