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Should you collect a sample of your newborn’s blood?

Posted at 1:03 PM, Nov 14, 2013
and last updated 2013-11-14 13:03:23-05

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.