Kansas City, Mo. ? A mother has been charged with deliberately making her son so ill that he was hospitalized 13 times, Jackson County prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Tammy M. Sweeden, 31, of Independence, who has had two other children removed from her care, is suspected of suffering from Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a psychiatric disorder in which a parent is driven to harm a child for attention and sympathy. She faces two felony counts of first-degree child endangerment.

Prosecutors allege that Sweeden began harming her son shortly after his birth in November 2003, and it continued until December 2004. The child, who turns 2 next month, was treated for various medical conditions ranging from breathing problems and infections to failure to thrive.

According to the probable cause statement, doctors at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City were unable to find a cause for the concerns that Sweeden reported. During her last visit, a nurse who was assigned to provide around-the-clock care observed the child retch and vomit after Sweeden held him in a way that applied pressure on his abdomen.

Hospital staff also reported that Sweeden handed a nurse a device that was surgically attached to the child for feeding purposes. Sweeden said the child pulled it out, according to the probable cause statement.

The Children’s Division of the Missouri Department of Social Services investigated and learned that Sweeden was diagnosed in Maine with Munchausen syndrome by proxy and had two children from a previous relationship removed from her custody. The investigation also revealed that Sweeden didn’t tell her current husband or his family about the diagnosis.

Welfare officials are attempting to have the child permanently removed from Sweeden’s care. The boy has “flourished” since he was placed with his paternal grandparents, according to the probable cause statement.

Sweeden’s attorney told police that her client did not harm her child and that the woman blamed the hospital for his condition.