Baby Nurse - False Identity

Received Tuesday, December 19, 2006
I recently hired a baby nurse through Absolute Best Care agency to help me care for my newborn baby for three weeks. I was assigned to a Jamaican woman named Monica (last name available). When she arrived on the day we came home from the hospital, everything seemed fine. After the first week I started to question whether she was as experienced as her resume indicated... By the end of the second week, I began to question whether she really fit the description given to me by the agency...Midway through the third week I became suspicious that she was actually not Monica (-) at all...Finally, I confronted her and she broke down crying with regret for what she had done... I asked to see her identification - and she was a completely different woman. The real Monica (-) had sent this woman in her place as "a favor for a friend in need of the money" (and charged the gal a small fee for the favor). While the woman caring for our son was pleasant and loving, she had never actually worked as a baby nurse before (she had no green card or authorization to work in the U.S. / her passport indicated that her occupation was a "dressmaker"). We were horrified - an imposter had been in our home for eighteen days impersonating a baby nurse sent to us by a reputable agency. We sent her home immediately and paid her a portion of what we owed her in cash. We are grateful that nothing happened to our child, however, we hope that the real Monica (-) is never placed by an agency again. While Absolute Best Care waved our placement fee, they never refunded us the cash.