The nightmarish real-life story of a mother who had to wait 18 YEARS to prove she had been given the wrong baby in a maternity ward mix-up
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The question at the centre of a new psychological drama would strike fear into the heart of any parent: what do you do if you discover your child is not yours?. The taut ITV thriller, Playing Nice, which is set against the rugged Cornish coastline and stars Happy Valley actor James Norton and Downton Abbey's Jessica Brown Findlay, charts the emotional turmoil of two families who find out that their toddler sons had been swapped at birth.
![[Margaret and Blanche, who had shared a room in the nursing home, agreed to stay in touch and regularly corresponded by letter. Pictured, Margaret and Valerie in the late 1930s]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/28/16/93540893-14232197-Margaret_and_Blanche_who_had_shared_a_room_in_the_nursing_home_a-m-61_1735402264871.jpg)
The case featured in the drama that airs next Sunday is fictional, but mistakes on busy maternity units can, and do, happen – and for the families involved they cause lasting and unimaginable heartache. One appalling error, which emerged just last month, involved two babies switched after being born within hours of each other in a West Midlands hospital.
![[Blanche unwittingly took home a newborn she named Peggy, both pictured, and brought her up as her own with her husband Fred]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/28/16/93540887-14232197-Blanche_unwittingly_took_home_a_newborn_she_named_Peggy_both_pic-m-62_1735402273269.jpg)
For 55 years the girls had been brought up in the wrong families until the truth was revealed when one of them took a DNA test. Today, both families – who have not been named – are still piecing together their shattered lives and, for the two women, their very identities.
![[Peggy and Valerie's children say that the outcome was ultimately a happy one, in the sense that the two families came together. Pictured from left to right are Margaret, Peggy and Valerie]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/28/16/93540897-14232197-Peggy_and_Valerie_s_children_say_that_the_outcome_was_ultimately-m-63_1735402284597.jpg)
In another case, in November 1992, Carla Bursey and Gemma Coyle were swapped at Southampton's Princess Anne Hospital. Thankfully the error was spotted within a fortnight and the babies restored to their rightful families. But not all mistakes can be rectified so quickly – and the repercussions can last a lifetime.
![[The new ITV thriller Playing Nice stars Downton Abbey's Jessica Brown Findlay, pictured, and charts the turmoil of two families who find out that their sons were swapped at birth]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/28/15/93541009-14232197-image-m-41_1735400836403.jpg)
