A WELL wisher was left mortified after mistaking photos of a tiny wombat for a pal's newborn baby.

The mix-up happened after a pregnant woman posted a picture on Facebook of a tiny animal she had rescued from the side of the road.

3 The Facebook post which sparked the bizarre baby mix-up

What should have been a heartwarming story then took a very awkward twist when one of her friends mistook the hairless marsupial for her baby.

"OMG congratulations! He's beautiful. I miss you so much," the friend wrote on the social media site.

As if that wasn't bad enough, it took the pal nearly eight hours to realise the shocking mistake.

"I didn't look properly. I thought you'd had your baby. I'm so sorry. OMG."

3 It took the woman's friend eight hours to realise her embarrassing mistake

3 It is not known if the pregnant woman has had her baby yet (stock image) Credit: Alamy

The friend had found the baby wombat by the side of the road and shared a couple of snaps.

The bizarre exchange is said to have taken place between two women from Australia.

It was shared by comedy writer James Felton, who tweeted some screenshots with the caption "Facebook is f***ing wild.".

"He (the wombat) is the reason I have stopped and checked approximately 20 deceased wombats on the road near my home in the past five years," the pregnant woman explains in her initial post.

This little fella needs lots of love

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"This little boy's mum had been killed during the night and left in the middle of the road on a blind corner with part of the bumper of the car responsible only a metre away.

"It is at times impossible to avoid hitting wildlife, and if stopping to check for little guys like this isn’t reason enough, PLEASE at least stop, move them off the road and help protect other road users."