Not to be paranoid, but what kind of security systems are in place to prevent babies being
abducted from maternity floors in hospitals?
        I visited a mother in a newly-designed hospital the other day, and was surprised to be able
to walk straight into her room without anybody checking my identity. This was a single mom who is
having custody problems with the baby's father. He had told her to abort the baby when she found
out she was pregnant, so she left him, and then he changed his mind and demanded weekly overnight
visitation starting at 2wks pp.
        During my visit, he walked in and asked to hold the baby. She watched him anxiously, and
then told him that I was here to help her with the bf. He said he would take the baby out into the
corridor (!) while I talked to her....She said that she didn't want the baby out in the *germy*
corridor, and I explained that we would need the baby present anyway. He continued to hold the
baby. It was a very tense situation!
        Eventually, he handed her back the baby. She almost snatched the child from him, and pulled
her close to her body. The father said he would wait outside until I was finished...
        By now, the mother was so upset that she was shaking. She had given birth the previous
evening (it was now early afternoon) and had had no time alone with the baby because of the
continuous stream of visitors. This was NOT a teaching moment! I gave her the info I had gathered
for her on legal issues, quickly reviewed positioning and latch-on (the baby was completely zonked
out from the stadol in her system and could not be roused enough to even open her mouth,) and
suggested she take a nap with the baby tucked in next to her. As I left, the father walked back
into the room.
        The nurses on duty said that they had no control over visitors except at night, when only
fathers were allowed to stay. This mother was obviously afraid of the father abducting the baby,
but was feeling too vulnerable and weak to do much about it.
        The old system ensured that visitors were screened at the desk, and only those on a
mother's list were permitted access. For those of you who work in hospital settings, what
proceedures do you have,if any? This is very scary!


Norma Ritter IBCLC. LLLL
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"If not now, when? If not us, who?" R. Hillel