We have all heard the scary stories about babies being taken away from their parents. I remember worrying so much about this when each of my children were infants. What if someone came in to the hospital and snatched our child? What if I turned away for a moment at the grocery store and turned back to find that my child wasn’t there. Of course, the worry that your child will go missing stays with you probably forever. I still make sure to keep my kids in site at all times whenever we are in public.
When I gave birth in the hospital with each of my children, there were elaborate security measures to ensure that our baby didn’t go missing. The baby wore anywhere from two to four security bands that would go off if the baby was taken past a certain point on the hospital floor. And both my husband and I had bands with numbers that matched the baby’s. Every nurse that came to take the baby for tests or a bath had very specific photo IDs with names and titles printed in large type.
Interestingly enough, with hospital security having increased so well and the number of babies being abducted from hospitals having dropped, there has been an increase (by double) in abductions taking place at home or in public places. This is according to an article published in the American Journal of Nursing.
One of the recent cases of infant abduction occurred in Texas, when a newborn baby girl was snatched from her home by a woman who posed as a healthcare worker. Fortunately, the woman was caught, and the baby was returned to her mother.
Most people don’t think of their child being abducted right from their home. Taking certain precautions should ease your mind and reduce the risk. You can leave your doors locked, even when at home, and keep windows to your baby’s room closed and locked as well.
Make sure you know who is coming in to your home. Ask for ID from anyone you don’t know, and never leave your baby alone with a stranger, no matter who they say they are.
In reality, there are only a small percentage of babies who are abducted from homes. Only about 10 babies under the age of six months were abducted by strangers (the number is higher for abductions by family members). Of course that is still 10 too many.
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