"A spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office, Ellen Borakove, said the babies had "strikingly similar names.''.......could see this happening as Sliwa is such a common name..you know..like Smith...after all they BOTH start with "S"

In scientology terms, the "thetan" has left, is it really important which "flesh body" you are burying?

What's the harm or intent of harm? No, to the $5M.

Me too! The way the headline was written, I thought this story had an even darker side.

I thought they had twins and buried the live one reading the headline..

This is tragic, no doubt, however 5million dollars seems a little high for punitive damages. The cost of the funerals and maybe another 20 grand would be more appropriate. Also an apology would be in order.

Don't think 5mil is too high,I knew a person something happened to,lady was given the body of what she was told was her son,about a year after the funeral,she found out that the body she buried,and mourned over was not her son,his remains had also been given to the wrong family.The lady I knew was put in the hospital by the shock when she found out.Maybe if this lady wins 5 mil the rat bastards that screwed up will pay more attention next time.

I thought of a second baby as well! These writers...I tell ya

I can see a little upset. But, their baby WAS dead, and was not desecrated in any way. I can see reburial expences, and some symbolic payment (for both sets of parents), say $20,000 to30,000.

EXACTLY! 5 mill is ridiculous to ask for. Reburial expenses should suffice--- no amount of money is going to bring these babies back to life unfortunately.

"I'm hurt to the point where I can't move forward," said Justyna Sliwa, who was pregnant for five months before her baby was stillborn in May. "I want my baby put to peace."

but a cool $5Million... well that will help me get a few steps past the baby that never took a breath, i saw maybe 3 times, that i never had to wipe a nose, or change a diaper for, that i was unable to carry.

i think maybe exspences paid to get the right bodies in the right place should be taken care of, and maybe $1G tops for the hassle. i feel bad(sorry) for this woman and her husband, they lost their baby prematurely. But i dont think 5 million as a cover charge should be granted in any form. looking for a payday on the taxpayers... scab.

Agreed...it is tragic enough that these two families had to endure the pain of still birth but then to know that they received the wrong babies to morn and bury. That is just horrible.

Imagine it. It happens more often than you know. When my second son was born, I went to the nursery to feed him and was given the wrong baby (same last name). I knew it right away because this child was red and mine had a dark complexion. But what if I hadn't already seen my son? I might not have ever known.

That makes me wonder how many women have mistakenly breastfed a baby that wasn't theirs. Honestly I'd be a little ticked and kind of grossed out it someone else breastfed my baby.

Why would you be grossed out about someone else breastfeeding your baby? Wetnurses have been around since the beginning of time.

I enjoy them, too.

I requested hospital records for my son born in a large hospital in Minnesota. As it turns out, another boy had been born at the same hospital with the same first name and a very similar last name. I hit the panic button, though, because I thought the hospital had withheld vital information to me, kept me in the dark, per se, about certain disabilities of his.

My baby had been born healthy. The other baby had a seizure-type episode after delivery, had an enlarged heart, had suffered possible brain damage in utero, etc. This was all due to "the mother's drug use and possible fetal alcohol syndrome." I called the hospital in a panic, trying to get to the bottom of these issues.

A friend, trying to comfort me, looked closer at the birth records. "Geez! They even got his middle name wrong!" I looked closer, and that's when I saw the time of birth was wrong, and I was Native American (I'm white). They switched records.

@WoodieRae - Oh my goodness, that is terrible!!! I couldn't even begin to imagine that kind of mix-up.

"I want my baby put to peace." The Mom said but I can assure you, that baby IS at peace! It's those of us, still here that stay attached, so I understand her pain. Definitely a mistake and should be corrected but this is why I want to be cremated...dust to dust, if I die before Christ comes again, I'm not in that body any more, so no need to visit me when I'm not here!!

It's NBCNews.com. They are lucky if the writers can spell their own names correctly. This news source is noted for incomplete stories and non-stories.

you are a JERK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lighten up!!!

Buzz,

C'mon man. We're talking about human life & death. That was absolutely uncalled for dude. Explains the "kill" in the middle.

You have no decency man & neither does the otherfools that voted. F'd up.

That was awesome buzz, I read it all the way and then spit coke all over my screen, dangit!!

How old are you people?? 15, 16??? Or is that just your "mental" age???? Am addressing IXLR8, jeepgal66, and buzzkillone. GROW UP. Unecssary and out of line comments for what this story is about. May be your "right" to say but reponsible people just don't go there!!!! Either your parents failed to teach you manners and respect or you just blew them off and don't care if you make yourselves look immature, rude and disgusting!!! EIther way I feel sorry for them and the embarssssment they must feel when they see you behave this way!!!!!

And you are quite obviouly one of the internet's many sphincters, one that can't contain it's own $#%. In other words, useless.

BUZZKILLONE How do you even generate enough brain cells to comment? Your mother most have been a real @#$%^

All buzzkill does is go from post to post making rude, childish comments. One day they might actually grow up.Best thing to do is report his comments.

.......barbecue sauce!!!!!

Now I'm hungry

If they get the right baby back will it be considered a "repo"? I can already see a new TV series in the making !!

lighten up, or grow up?

i think some times too much is put into somethings we dont have control over, or have no attachment to.

Stillborn means it was dead at birth. While most hospitals allow the parents to hold their baby after birth, some parents decline this.

I would have thought that the hospital would have still taken a foot print and should have used that as a guide to identify the correct baby, or placed a band on the baby as they do with live births. Yes, I am sure mistakes can happen and I have sympathy for the employee who made the error but still the families need their own babies back if possible.

The New York City medical examiner's office says it is responsible for an error that resulted in a Brooklyn family burying someone else's stillborn baby in their native Poland.

Can none of you people read?!?!? The article was only 8 sentences long, and the above is the first sentence in the article!!! This had nothing to do with the hospital. It was a mistake made by the NYC medical examiner's office. Jeez!

The New York City medical examiner's office says it is responsible for an error that resulted in a Brooklyn family burying someone else's stillborn baby in their native Poland.

Can none of you people read?!?!? The article was only 8 sentences long, and the above is the first sentence in the article!!! This had nothing to do with the hospital. It was a mistake made by the NYC medical examiner's office. Jeez!

@txmom

Even if they put a band on the baby's wrist, it might have only said "Boy Smith" for example. The article does say the names were similar. The employee who picked up the body might have thought it was a mispelling.

That's true - I remember when my child was born, the bassinette had a sign on that that read "Baby Girl Jones." Could've been another baby girl Jones in that nursery for all I know - a lot of births on that day.

You ought to have to pass a reading comprehension quiz at the end of an article before you are allowed to comment on it.

Actually, now that I think about it, the writers at nbcnews ought to have to pass a writing and grammar quiz before they're allowed to write them, but that's a different topic altogether.

• For those of you saying that they should take a footprint (they do) and a wristband (they do) thearticle reads "they had strikingly similar names" just like what JerseyKat mentions above. So it had nothing to do with tagging.

Ewh, they can keep the "baby afterbirth"

good

Okay, "baby back" wasn't too bad, but this one....

There rightfully should be a lawsuit, it requires no stretch of the imagination here to see that this is incompetence at its best.

The, don't feed the trolls.

my buddy and his wife had a still born i was the only one other than them that seen her , she was perfect except she was still born because of the umbilical cord around her neck and buzzkill i would kick your Ass if you said that to my face about a dead baby

• What whiskey eye said!
• Right on brotha.... I lost two children (twin boys) 3 days after birth and to see some of these comments tears me apart and makes me feel the same way most of you do. (RIP SOMEONES THROAT OUT)



It is very insensitive. Read the book of James tonight, short but to the point.

I don't think of your question as insensitive...the concern for the families would be if one infant body were buried and the other cremated. Of course there is the fact that the Polish family wished for their infant's body to be laid to rest in Poland and that didn't happen. We don't know what the other family did or wished for their infant but being laid to rest in Poland was probably not their wish.

Parents of still born babies are still parents and will feel loss and need to morn the child. They will have precious few decisions to make for that child so it seems very important that any spiritual or physical wish be observed.

I don't think that this error should result in a financial jack pot but the Hospital needs to rectify the situation and afford the parents of the babies the opportunity to morn and bury their own children according to their own wishes.

You have evidently never had to suffer through the loss of a child through stillbirth. Would you feel the same way if the baby had been 6 months old? Even though she never drew breath, I still knew my daughter. You're right. It was very insensitive.

...but the Hospital needs to rectify the situation.

It was not the fault of the hospital. Try actually reading the article. The first sentence clearly states...

The New York City medical examiner's office says it is responsible for an error that resulted in a Brooklyn family burying someone else's stillborn baby in their native Poland.

And no, rkaralius did not ask an insensitive question. The medical examiner's office would have been better off by not revealing their mistake. No one would ever have known the difference.

It seems that rkaralius does not have the same perspective on this situation as jgogirl or IXLR8 so he/she asked a question. Let me ask a question of you two- why do you get so upset just because this person asked a question? How are they supposed to learn your prospective? Osmosis?

Here is a thought experiment- You get on an airplane headed for Hawaii. You do not know how much fuel is in the fuel tanks. If there is only fuel for say, 4 hours of flight then you will crash in the Pacific and die. The quantity unknown to you- how much fuel is in the tank is very important. Had the medical examiner's office not told the families about the mix up nobody would have ever been the wiser...

Kinda makes sense. Some religions believe there are souls flying around waiting for a body to occupy. So according to that way of thinking, those souls are already in existence. The baby producing mamma & dadda didn't create that soul, only the vessel for it to occupy. A soul defines a personality. So if the empty container (the body) for that pre-existing soul dies, why should it matter which body they bury? That pre-existing soul is either flying around again or gone off to some soul heaven (or hell).

This isn't how I think, but that concept of pre-existing souls flying about waiting for bodies is just weird, almost like believing in ghosts & ghouls.

"the concern for the families would be if one infant body were buried and the other cremated."

This and it has happened before (a few years ago, in fact). There was a lawsuit in that case as the family that buried their 'baby' found out that it wasn't theirs and it was accidentally cremated (the babies had been switched before their burials). This REALLY didn't sit well with the family (whose real child was accidentally cremated) because cremation went against their beliefs so that made it even more upsetting.

It is insensitive. When you are pregnant and you see ultrasound after ultrasound with a healthy baby moving around and then one day you go in to find out there is no longer a heartbeat (for no reason)....words cannot express how devastating that is. Then, you have to go INTO labor and deliver your precious baby that is already dead. If you held your dead baby in your arms then you would understand how this matters A LOT! Nothing can replace that baby...not even a new baby and certainly not some other baby they mistakenly gave you.

Nothing can replace that baby...not even a new baby

Christine Bhatkar, Thank you for your input. The part I don't get is this. The wrong baby they got DID replace their baby. They had a service, etc, etc for the baby they received. They would have never known they got the wrong baby had nobody told them. It seems strange that it matters SOOO much that they didn't even notice.

I too think it is a very misfortunate accident, but $5 million? Where do people come up with these insane amounts? I know, I know, lots of pain and suffering but if they get their own baby's body back, do they deserve such an outrageous amount for what was probably an honest mistake -- I mean, c'mon, people deal with different stuff all the time, when humans are involved, a mistake is bound to be made at some point, if it's the person's 2nd or 3rd mistake then yeah, that's negligent but which one of us hasn't made an honest mistake and felt really bad about it?

@ Christine, I feel your pain and loss, my husband and I had four babies lost late in pregnancy, and it is the most horrible feeling to wake up one morning and realize your not sure if the baby has moved so you try and talk your self into believing your being silly everything is fine, by late afternoon your half trying to provoke the baby into moving away from the gentle pressure on your stomach, I had to deliver all 4 of those precious babies, and I held them and tried to will them to breath, we did get blessed with 3 healthy children, but not a day goes by that I don't think of these missing children and I look at my other kids and wonder what the other 4 would of been like, who they might of become.......it's very tough!

Lisa, A lot of people think that every level of gvt is bloated now, and you want to add more people, just to check! Certainly both moms and dads would have been upset by the death of their baby. But that they buried the "wrong" baby? Ok, I think when you die, you just leave your body (and simply cease to exist. I'm not big on the idea that some "spirit" lives on), but I can grant that the parents may have some feelings ON THE MATTER OF THE MIX UP. So maybe some amount can be given for added pain and suffering. But, not 5mil$$$, (maybe 1/100th that amount.)

It isn't the hospital that made the mistake. It was the medical examiner's office, which you would know if you had read the first sentences of the story. Sloppy reading is inexcusable.

READ!!!! The medical examiner's office!!! Obviously they aren't the only ones who can make mistakes!

Why doesn't anyone have their mind on their job anymore???

Because people are stupid and don't pay attention to detail. A pharmacy tech once gave me the wrong prescription bag. My first and last names and the names of the person for whom the prescription was intended were similar, but also different enough for anyone with an ounce of sense who was paying attention to notice. Who can't see the different between "Teresa" and "Thomas" or "Roberts" and "Robertson"? It's an indication of why our country is in trouble and going downhill at a fast rate. For example, count the number of posters above who blamed this mistake on the hospital when the first sentence of the article clearly states that it is the NYC medical examiner who is responsible. There is no wonder that the Chinese and the rest of the world are ahead of us.

So i guess neither of you have ever made a mistake in a job you have done? If you have then i don't see your going on about. Or is it alright for you to make a mistake but not someone else?

What do the hospital and Bloomberg have to do with the NYC medical examiner's office, Einstein?

let's be reasonable, you have no idea if the person who made the mistake was a new employee, maybe they are overworked, maybe they don't have the budget to hire qualified staff, maybe they were shorthanded because people called in sick, maybe that person was having a horrible day because they just lost their house or whatever ---- it is human to make mistakes, yes, this type of mistake is serious and painful and the family deserves to have it be made right but if the person is not a sloppy worker who makes mistakes left and right, cut them a break, we all have a bad day once in a while, we are not all perfect

yes, yes, I remember in the good ol days we never made mistakes in 'Merica. It was up hill both ways in waist high snow AND WE LIKED IT!

Now these young kids with there I-pads and new fangled 8-tracks are turning the country into a crap taco.

celnav, I had to LOL at "crap taco".

Yes, I look to counties with the smallest governments as my model. Somalia, for example, is wonderful!

I look to counties (sic) with the smallest governments as my model.

Really? Which state has a county by the name of "Somalia"? You are a major part of the problem for not knowing the difference between "counties" and "countries", yet you thought you were making such a brilliant statement.

Just typing fast ABCzyx, my mistake. It's ok though, even without the typo no amount of logic or reason would get us to see eye to eye. Make sure you get out and vote on November 7th.

I suppose we will be better off having babies born at home. If it is stillborn, call a Priest then pack it in dry ice and ship it off to Poland to be buried. No need to tell the nosey Govt.

On the other hand if it was not stillborn, at what point you tell the "bad evil tax hoarding Govt" I made a baby in America and needs to get the citizenship to be acknowledged.

Look what's happening to Obama and all the Brown babies having to prove they are citizens now.

I imagine one can ship any baby from Poland and say " It is White, no problem saying it's American!"

celnav - Voting is Nov 6th.

Rebecca-3057443, ask Rick Perry himself. Voting for Republicans is Nov 7th!

Sure retired, if it had been outsourced, nobody would have ever known!! And, everybody would be happy!!

Gridlock---do NOT refer to a baby as "it". A baby is a person, and deserves the dignity of being noted as he/him or she/her.

Okay, for the zillionth time, this was the fault of the NYC MEDICAL EXAMINER'S OFFICE, not the hospital. Oh wait, isn't NYC's mayor a Republican? OOPS! By your own reasoning, this was Bloomberg's fault! You morons are always trying to make every single news article political. Crawl back into the cave you came out of!

@Rachael - you asked ""isn't NYC's mayor a Republican?""

The answer is: NO

What in 4377 does this have to do with ObamaCare??

I hear ya Lydial. I am so sorry for your loss. I have lost 2 babies (miscarried). There are no words to describe the loss. Stillborn's..I can't even imagine that. Having to deliver a baby knowing your baby has passed away and not being able to take your baby home. Clearly, some of the people here have never gone through it and honestly I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy because no loss can be compared to the loss of a baby. It sucks how uneducated our society is when it comes to miscarriage and stillbirth.

you are correct.....i wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy to be honest. it is a horrible feeling. and the loss of miscarriage and stillbirth are alike but differ....i feel blessed to have gotten to know her and hold her and everything and yet miscarriage....i couldn't imagine. its weird how, both horrible, but yet we could never imagine going through what the other has.

i also am sorry for your loss, and all others out there reading that don't want to comment/or just are at a loss for words.

thank you for your comment!

Years ago, my boss had a stillborn son. She was a great boss, and I felt so bad that one day I went to the cemetery to find his grave. He is buried in the children's section, surrounded by other small ones who died before their time, and the entire place was full of balloons and windmills that caught the sun and danced. I was with a higher power that day. Five million dollars won't replace a small one, and it won't do much to assuage the pain.

We sympathize, and empathize with those who have had children die. It must be horrible, and I'm sure the mix up would cause a little more hurt. But, 5 mill? Come on!

I lost a baby about 10 hours after he was born due to a Dr.'s error. For the record we didn't sue. What good would it have done? I wouldn't bring him back. You have carried that baby under your heart for about 9 months, give or take and you know that child. It hurts when you leave the hospital with empty arms. I'm serious, it physically hurts. Everything in you hurts. If you have other children you just want to get home and hug them for all it's worth. I cannot even imagine a mix up like this. I also had a granddaughter that was still born. My son & daughter in law were in so much pain and with them in Japan we couldn't even give them a hug. We lost ours in 1964 and in those days they didn't bring you the baby to hold afterward. I would have given anything for that opportunity. Now that's done but they also take a picture of the baby for you. I don't have a picture of my son but some of you probably couldn't understand how very much the picture of my granddaughter means to me. If you haven't lost a child you really can't understand these families pain. I wouldn't wish this on anyone but if it ever happens to someone you know please don't say anything if you can't be comforting and compassionate. God Bless these famlies and their lost children.

lydial - sorry about your loss. i know it Hurts, my wife lost two girls.. Fairly late Term. but you might as well get used to the fact that the rest of the world and the Folks who reside there, are not Going to Tippy Toe around your Grief... or Mine. Lots of people are suffering from a loss, and i would not presume that your pain and loss is any more or less important, than mine or anyone elses... But maybe seeing a Grief counselor would Help, i accompanied my wife to see a counselor and even though she is in worse shape than i am, i got someting out of it too.

as for the Folks who make Crude Jokes, or even just make light of things... just go ahead and call them an A** hole if it makes you feel better ! it always makes me feel better !.. but unless people have been through it, they will not think its a big deal... and that is our world.

Be Blessed.

Keep drinking that koolaid

Are you kidding me? Yeah you better keep drinking that koolaid because there is something ver wrong with you. I don't know anything about the Santorum's lost baby but the ice in that comment shows you to be a pretty crude individual. I hope you never have to find out what it's like but if you do I hope that no one says anything like that to you.

de2or2010 you are a typical LIBERAL full of HATE, INTOLERANCE & DELUSIONS. Are you even old enough to be on here? You don't sound like it

It is immature HATE FILLED LIBERALS like you that called BRAVE HEROIC vets like me a BABY KILLER when the real BABY KILLERS are LBERALS like yhou who MURDER POOR HELPLESS INNOCENT HELPLESS UNBORN BABIES

namevet0527 - Excuse Me Sir, but you sure do Not Represent yourself like the vets in my family, or Any that i know.. Brave and Heroic ? apparently not Today... and guess what? YOU are not the Only One Around Here Who Served America in the Armed Forces, So Get Over Yourself.

De2Or2010 is Obviously an Idiot with a big Fat Mouth. But How Does that Excuse your Behavior ? i'm sure Glad that you did not Mention HONOR, Because Today your Verbal Attack regarding a large group of your Fellow Americans, as well as Calling yourself "Heroic" in the Same Breath, is Not Reflection of Honor Sir.

You Sir, Represent yourself Very Poorly. and to Toss your Military Service into the Fray, To Justify your Behavior, is wrong... Because it doesn't. And its just Sad.

namevet0527 - wow, i just Read your other post. and i'm sorry i bothered speaking to you as if you were Human.

you act like an Animal, you need to be "put Down" Like the America Hating, Low Down Dirty Dog, that you obviously are. You Call YOURSELF "HEROIC" ? You are not anything Near to Being A Hero... your a sad Excuse for a Human, and Piss Poor Excuse For a Republican or an American.

de2or2010-What a wacky comment. Makes no sense.

walkingeagle069-What's your problem with namevet0527's post? All he did was reply with fervor to some nutjob's slanderous, incomprehensible post.