Does hospital mix ups with babies getting switched at birth happen a lot?

I don't think so. I have never heard of it actually happening ever in my lifetime.

I really think the cases are far and few between. Like people stealing kids out of the hospital too....it does happen once in a while but they are very extreme cases then the media picks up on it and uses it for entertainment...My son's daughter was born in Methodist Hospital in Rochester MN....part of the Mayo health systems and I don't think anyone could get a child out of there without proper ID.

I don't think it happens very often, or at least I hope it doesn't. When I was pregnant with my kids, especially with my oldest, my husband and I were worried about that happening. We hoped there would be some sort of birth mark on our baby so that we could identify him easily. And sure enough there was! A little strawberry mark right on his forehead. The hospital where I had both of my children put a bracelet not only on the the babies wrist's, but on the ankle as well. And those things were impossible to get off. They matched the mother's bracelets with last name and name of the doctor, but the babies had a special alarm on it, so that the babies couldn't leave the hospital. If someone were to try to take a baby, an alarm would sound as soon as the baby was near the exit. One thing I loved about having my babies when I did was that they were able to stay in the room with me. They weren't taken into a nursery like when I was a baby. Which was probably one of the reasons babies got mixed up in the first place. With so many babies together in one room I'm amazed more babies weren't mixed up...or were they?

Well, human error is common and I've not only heard of it, but there are some cases of people meeting sometime in life and finding out they are brother and sister. There was even a study in which it showed that no matter what, if a brother and sister have been separated at birth and would meet in their adult life, they would instantly fall in love with each other, only to find out later that they are of the same kin. But it's not something that happens on a daily basis. Or at least I hope...

I am sure it rarely happens anymore. When I had my daughter she had an ankle bracelet that had my name on it and a number that matched the number on my wrist band. She also had a tracking thing on her leg like people on house arrest have. If a baby goes past a certain point an alarm sounds, doors shut and elevators stop working.

When I had my kids and my children had their's they (the nurses) ask if you want your baby to room with you and I did and so did my daughters..this way the baby is always with you and you never have to worry about anyone stealing it or switching it by mistake..you also have the fun of taking care of it..lol..

considering all the laws suits they would have I don't think it happens very often at all.

this is happening but in rare cases, I also read this types of news and also seen in few movies

No, it doesn't because of the procedures in the Delivery Room. Here in the U.S. newborn babies have bands placed on their ankles while still in Delivery which match the one issued to the mother when she was admitted. These days, as security in hospitals has increased in order to protect newborns from being abducted, if the ankle bans slips off, an alarm is sounded. The odds of this happening to two babies as they are being handled by one nurse, and the bands being switched, is nearly impossible.