Althouse: Ending newspaper birth notices because they "set people up as targets for somebody who might want to steal a baby."

January 1, 2014

Ending newspaper birth notices because they "set people up as targets for somebody who might want to steal a baby."

"In general, birth announcements in newspapers are not endorsed by most experts...."

17 comments:

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...: Anyone know the duties of medical practitioners under HIPPA as re. the newborn person? Can they release information without permission of the newborn?; 1/1/14, 7:55 AM
Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...: Ummm ... HIPAA.; 1/1/14, 8:01 AM
Hagar said...: But that announcement in the Honolulu Daily Bugle is the best documentary evidence we have for Mr. Obama being a "natural born citizen of the United States."; 1/1/14, 8:36 AM
Anonymous said...: Aren't county birth and death records public and trusted?; 1/1/14, 8:41 AM
alan markus said...: At least 290 babies have been abducted in the U.S. since 1983, including 132 at health care facilities, according to the center. Four cases, from 1989 to 1993, were linked by law enforcement to birth announcements, the center says.

Let's take a look at that. In a 14 year period, 4 infant abductions were attributed to birth announcements. That's about one every three years. In a 30 year period, 132 abductions were from health care facilities. That is over 4 per year.

Seems like hospitals need to be more concerned about their security procdures.; 1/1/14, 9:11 AM
alan markus said...: Oops, the time frame for infant abductions attributed to birth announcements was 4 years (1989-1993, not 2013), so that is one per year. Maybe there haven't been any in the last 10 years?; 1/1/14, 9:14 AM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: Eh, not sure that one baby a year out of the millions born and announced should require official changes in policy. The insane are always with us, after all.; 1/1/14, 9:39 AM
CWJ said...: From the linked article,

"One reason some hospitals are no longer providing birth information is a fear of lawsuits"

Forget the statistics, perhaps this is all we really need to know.; 1/1/14, 9:47 AM
Sam L. said...: FEAR! FEAR for your BABY! All will go WRONG!; 1/1/14, 11:39 AM
n.n said...: For purposes of extortion? If all they want is a baby, then they should hang out at Planned Parenthood. There are plenty of disposable babies there. Get them before they block the plumbing.; 1/1/14, 12:55 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Seems to me everyone knows the maternity section of a hospital has babies in it. What's the big deal about birth announcements? It could be a way to find out that a wealthy person has had a baby, but when's the last time you've heard of a rich person asked to pay ransom for a baby? I don't know, maybe it happens a lot and is kept quiet as part of the deal, like in the movies: "If you call the cops, the baby is dead…"; 1/1/14, 1:07 PM
Michelle Dulak Thomson said...: Ann, exactly my reaction. If you want to snatch a particular baby (to hold for ransom, say), a birth announcement might possibly be useful to you, though I think people who snatch babies for ransom aren't generally relying on newspapers for their info.

If what you want is just a baby, any baby, well, the existence of maternity wards isn't exactly a secret.

FWIW, I don't know how old a child has to be before it ceases being a "baby," but I know the grandmother of a child snatched on her first birthday by her biological father, who incidentally beat her mother's head in with a baseball bat first. He was convicted of the murder and kidnapping, but his mother (the other grandmother) got custody of the child anyway. Money was a large factor, though there were others.; 1/1/14, 1:24 PM
Kirk Parker said...: "Experts"! What would we do without them???; 1/1/14, 3:04 PM
MadisonMan said...: I saw that this morning and rolled my eyes.

Let's make the world completely risk-free.; 1/1/14, 3:08 PM
Alex said...: Madison Man - maybe it's a cultural thing for me, but I don't understand the concept of birth notices. Why does the public have to know?; 1/1/14, 8:19 PM
CStanley said...: There was a sixteen year gap between the birth of my two biological children, and in that interim the security measures at the hospitals seemed to have drastically increased (this is anecdotal, of course, and it was two different hospitals.)

With the more recent birth a few years ago, the maternity ward felt as though it was on permanent lockdown. The only access was via an elevator located adjacent to the main nurses station, and visitors had to be escorted by a staff member and given access to the elevator with a key.

I assume that the concern here with birth announcements is that families make themselves vulnerable right after leaving the hospital, since would- be baby mappers who are foiled by the security at hospitals might target the homes instead.; 1/2/14, 8:52 AM
Unknown said...: What would Dr. Gosnell do?; 1/2/14, 3:18 PM