A Polish woman who underwent IVF treatment gave birth to another woman's child owing to an alleged mistake at a hospital in the town of Police, north west Poland.

''Put simply, everything indicates that during the IVF treatment, the husband's sperm was combined with the ovum of another woman, instead of that of his wife,'' a doctor told the Głos Szczeciński daily.

The baby girl was born with multiple defects, prompting the couple to call for a DNA test, which revealed that the woman who gave birth to the child was not the biological mother.

The hospital where the mistake occurred is a branch of the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, which participates in a government-funded IVF programme.

Joanna Wożnicka, a spokesperson for the university's clinics, has told the TVN24 news channel that an investigation has been launched into how the mistake occurred.

The child is currently being cared for at the Children's Health Centre in Warsaw. (nh)