Suit Asserts Infant’s Right To Mother’s Milk

A new mother who was mistakenly allowed to breast-feed the infant of an HIV-positive woman filed suit on Wednesday against Broward General Medical Center and the nurse who was involved.

The suit says the incident exposed the mother to a minuscule but potential risk of contracting the virus that leads to AIDS when a nurse brought her the wrong child to feed.

Most importantly, the mother says, the mid-April incident kept her from breast-feeding her own baby girl, denying her the anti-bodies and nutrients in breast milk. The suit aims to break new legal ground by asserting that babies have the right to mother’s milk, the perfect baby food.

The mother, who is about 20, is keeping her identity a secret, and was identified on the suit only as Jane Doe. So far, she has tested negative for HIV.