RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) - The accidental baby-switching caseat the University of Virginia Hospital in 1995 helped lead to the passing of the Virginia Child Identification Program.
The program gives parents the option, at the time of a baby’s birth, of having the hospital collect and give you a sample of the newborn’s blood. The maternity ward at Johnston-Willis Hospital is one of many area birthing centers that highly recommends new parents to use the program.
They say in the event of future emergencies involving a child; things like an accident, abduction, or natural disaster; that collected blood can be used to perform a DNA analysis for use in identifying that child.
How does it work?
Nurses take a small drop of blood and apply it to a specially designed card. The card is then placed in a sealed envelope which parents take home. The hospital does not keep a sample.
Nurse Kathy Derr at the Johnston-Willis Maternal Unitsays by storing a blood sample, parents significantly increase the possibility that it will be useable for DNA testing.
"Anything can occur from the moment they take their baby home," Derr said. "So I think they should just go ahead and do it. It’s an easy process and it’s of no cost to them.”
Hospitals take an inked footprint of a baby after their born. However, as a newborn grows, the footprints become harder to read. Having a blood sample can be a valuable tool for identification, Derr said.
