We all have a responsibility to protect those who can't protect themselves.
Over 130 abductions of infants from hospitals in the US*- Only reports documented cases of a “successful” abduction by a non-family member
- Abductions by a family member are not included
- Unsuccessful abduction attempts are not included
- Mother's room: 58%
- Nursery: 13%
- Pediatrics: 13%
- "On premises": 16%
- Mix-ups presenting the wrong infant to the wrong mother
- Considerably more common than infant abduction but no official statistics are kept
- Regularly makes media headlines all over the world. However diligent and well trained the hospital staff may be, the sheer number of mother/baby transfers every day simply provide opportunity for human error
- Misreading infant or mother bracelet information
- Bracelet falling off ankle or wrist, which is particularly common with newborns
- Bed mix-ups, in which a child is removed for bathing or treatment then returned to the wrong bed
- Mix-ups of babies with similar or identical names
- Misreading of ID numbers
- Inadequate verification processes
- Parents who are not fluent in the staff’s native language