The Czech Republic:Czech authorities have offered the equivalent of €3,700 in compensation to two couples whose babies were swapped by hospital staff shortly after birth 10½ months ago.
Libor Broza only realised Nikolka was not his child when he requested a DNA test to quash village gossip about the blond-haired, blue-eyed girl, who bore no resemblance to either of her brown-haired, dark-eyed "parents".
When his wife Jaroslava had her own DNA test, it showed that neither of them had any genetic link to Nikolka, who was one of five children born at a hospital in the town of Trebic on December 10th.
Urgent tests revealed the Broza's baby was actually living in a nearby village with Jan and Jaroslava Cermak, who had called her Veronika.
After an emotional meeting that gripped the Czech media, the two couples agreed to swap their babies before Christmas, and are currently taking it in turns to look after the two girls, who were born just 18 minutes apart.
Nurses are believed to have put the wrong identity tags on the babies after birth. One couple recalled asking hospital staff to explain how "their" baby's weight had changed dramatically overnight, but never suspected they were taking home someone else's child. After an enquiry, two nurses were sacked and several others reprimanded.
"It was uncovered the next evening [after the children were born] when the children's weights did not agree, and then there was manipulation with the files," said hospital director Peter Mayer.
The Brozas and Cermaks have demanded the dismissal of Mr Mayer, who they say tried to defend his staff and place some responsibility for the mix-up on the parents. Local officials have so far only docked his pay.
"We did not like some of the remarks of the hospital director who cast some of the blame on the mothers," said Mr Cermak, who also noted the two mothers had complained that nurses took their babies away from them too quickly after giving birth.
The initial payment to the parents is expected to be only the first stage in a much larger compensation package, with Czech media reporting one couple is claiming more than €350,000 damages from their health authority.
