Swapped babies returned to their parents

The two baby boys swapped at birth by hospital staff in Limpopo last week are due to be returned to their rightful parents on Wednesday, the provincial health department said.

"The parents are still undergoing counselling but seem to be in good spirits because they were laughing at my jokes when I met them earlier today," said Limpopo health department spokesperson Phuti Seloba, who refused to divulge the exact nature of the humour.

The baby-swap happened last week when new parents arrived home from Polokwane Provincial Hospital and found their newborn baby bore no family resemblance.

One of the babies apparently had two name tags.

Seloba said DNA tests were conducted and revealed that the babies had indeed been swapped.

"They will be swapped back at the hospital this afternoon but the babies don't seem overly concerned... in fact one is fast asleep," he said.

Seloba said the hospital staff responsible for the mix up would be severely dealt with.

Hospital heads were in a meeting discussing the issue and were again not available for comment. - Sapa