A North Carolina mother, LaChunda Hunter, has filed a lawsuit against Novant Health and several local physicians, alleging a series of hospital errors following the death of her premature daughter left her uncertain whether the child she buried was actually her own.
LaChunda Hunter says her pregnancy in September 2021 came as a surprise after she believed she could not conceive, according to WCNC. However, complications soon followed. She developed high blood pressure and was admitted to Novant Presbyterian Medical Center, where she delivered her daughter, Legacy, by cesarean section at 23 weeks on Feb. 13, 2022.
“She was thriving, they thought the worst, but she did well,” Hunter recalled.
The NC mother was discharged three days later, while Legacy remained in the neonatal intensive care unit. On Feb. 19, 2022, Hunter said she visited her daughter and received a reassuring message from a nurse that the baby was progressing.
That night, however, Hunter says she was told Legacy had died. When she returned to the hosp
ital the following day, Hunter said she was taken into what she described as a storage-like room and shown a baby wrapped in blankets. “They brought me a baby wrapped in a whole bunch of blankets,” she said. “I don’t know what the baby looked like because it was so dark.”Funeral arrangements were made. But days later, Hunter said she received a startling phone call from a doctor expressing optimism about her daughter’s recovery.
“He told me who he was and then told me how well Legacy was doing… that he was optimistic,” she said. Her assistant informed the physician that Hunter had been told her baby died, at which point, she said, the call ended abruptly.
Hunter later says another doctor contacted her to explain there had been a charting error — the earlier update referred to another infant, and her phone number had been mistakenly attached.
According to the lawsuit,
Hunter sought answers and requested medical records, but claims hospital officials declined to meet with her. She also points to inconsistencies in Legacy’s chart, including notes indicating medical tubes were removed days after the baby’s reported death.Before the funeral, Hunter requested a private DNA test after noticing differences in the child’s appearance. “This baby doesn’t even look the same as my daughter,” she said, noting the absence of marks she remembered.
The first test was inconclusive. A second test, requested by Novant, concluded the child was hers, though Hunter says she never authorized another sample.
“Every milestone that mothers get to experience, I have missed,” Hunter said. “She is the only child I would have physically had and I just want my daughter. I just want to know what happened.”
In a statement, Novant Health said it could not discuss specific cases due to privacy laws but emphasized its commitment to compassionate care and taking concerns seriously.
RELATED CONTENT: Black Chicago Mother Sues Medical Center For Mistaking Child’s Birthmark For Child Abuse