Stacie Cottle has baby returned to her after DNA proved she was the mother

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Stacie Cottle, 27, gave birth at her mother's apartment on the Costa del Sol
She took Anzelika to the hospital, but was stunned when medics seized her
Doctors said it was 'impossible' baby was hers because it looked too old
Judge ordered Anzelika be returned after DNA test proved she was mother
A beaming Ms Cottle has been pictured after being reuinted with her baby

By Chris Pleasance and Tom Worden for MailOnline

Published: 06:22 EST, 8 July 2015 | Updated: 12:46 EST, 8 July 2015

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This is the moment a British woman was reunited with her newborn baby after she was seized by a Spanish hospital three weeks ago after staff claimed she wasn't the child's mother.

Stacie Cottle, 27, was pictured cradling daughter Anzelika with a smile on her face after being forced to undergo DNA tests to prove she had given birth to her.

Medics at the Hospital Comarcal de la Axarquia in Malaga had Ms Cottle's baby taken away from her after claiming the child looked too old to have just been born.

The saga began after Ms Cottle, from Startford, east London, went into labour two weeks early on July 16 while staying with her mother Veronica on the Costa del Sol.

Together again: British mother Stacie Cottle has finally been reunited with her baby daughter Anzelika after the child was taken from her by hospital staff who did not believe the girl was hers

Ms Cottle was staying with her mother when she went into labour and gave birth after 40 minutes. When she took her daughter to hospital for a check up the next day, medics said the child was 'too old' to be hers

Ms Cottle's labour lasted just 40 minutes before she gave birth to Anzelika in her mother's apartment, meaning there was no time to telephone for medics.

Seeing that the baby was healthy, Ms Cottle decided to rest in the apartment for the night before taking the newborn to hospital for a check up the next day.

She arrived and was taken through to a creche area where Anzelika was put into a cot, and even had enough time to take a few pictures with her new daughter.

However, things suddenly took a turn for the worse when staff informed Ms Cottle that she would no longer be allowed to see the child.

Doctors said it was 'impossible' the baby was hers because it looked too old to be a newborn, and called the police.

Ms Cottle was told she could breastfeed the baby, but only under supervision, and was not allowed to dress her or bring her toys.

Anzelika's grandmother was allowed to visit for one hour a day but was not allowed to touch the baby, and Miss Cottle's three-year-old daughter was not allowed to visit her newborn sister.

Spanish authorities had imposed strict restrictions on Miss Cottle's access to her daughter, including breastfeeding only under supervision and banning her from bringing clothes or toys or dressing the child

Despite undergoing a test which showed she had given birth recently, Ms Cottle was forced to wait three weeks for the result of a DNA test before being handed her daughter back

Even after undergoing an examination that proved she had recently given birth, medics refused to accept Anzelika was her child and the baby was taken into the care of social services and a DNA test ordered.

Ms Cottle then faced an agonizing three day wait for the results to come back, which proved without question that she was the mother of the baby girl.

Today, a judge ordered the baby be returned to her mother, amid accusation from Ms Cottle that she was poorly treated because of her race.

She had said: 'I'm desperate to be with my baby. I feel like I'm being tortured on purpose.

'I am treated like a criminal here, they think I stole my baby and everywhere I go in the hospital people are looking at me and talking about me.'

However, hospital authorities have denied that her skin colour played any part of their decision.

A source at the court in Velez-Malaga said: 'The judge received the result of the DNA test, which proved the relationship, and returned the baby to her mother.'