Nurses’ Attitudes and Knowledge of Their Roles in Newborn Abandonment

Providing a Safe Haven: Staff Response to a Simulated Infant Relinquishment in the Emergency Department

Every state in the United States has established laws that allow an unharmed newborn to be relinquished to personnel in a safe haven, such as hospital emergency departments, without legal penalty to the parents. These Safe Haven, Baby Moses, or Safe Surrender laws are in place so that mothers in crisis can safely and legally relinquish their babies at a designated location where they can be protected and given medical care until a permanent home can be found. It is important for health care professionals to know about and understand their state's law and how to respond should an infant be surrendered at their facility. No articles were found in the peer-reviewed literature that describe a method to evaluate nurse competency during infant relinquishment at a Safe Haven location. This article will describe commonalities and differences among these Safe Haven Laws, responsibilities of the hospital and staff receiving a relinquished infant, and 1 hospital's experience when running an infant relinquishment drill in their emergency department.

Addressing poverty, education, and gender equality to improve the health of women worldwide

The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) that target alleviating poverty, improving primary education, and fostering gender equity are important as a foundation to promote world health. Achieving these goals will create an environment for healthy lives for women and children. Poverty, education, and gender equality, although undeniably linked, need to be addressed individually. Nurses have the capacity and political will to address MDGs and to contribute to the health and well-being of the world population.

Abandoned babies and absent policies

OBJECT

Although infant abandonment is a historical problem, we know remarkably little about the conditions or effects of abandonment to guide evidence driven policies. This paper briefly reviews the existing international evidence base with reference to potential mental health considerations before mapping current UK guidelines and procedures, and available incidence data. Limitations arising from these findings are discussed with reference to international practice, and interpreted in terms of future pathways for UK policy.

METHOD

A systematic approach was utilized to gather available data on policy information and statistics on abandoned babies in the UK.

RESULTS

A review of the limited literature indicates that baby abandonment continues to occur, with potentially wide-ranging mental health ramifications for those involved. However, research into such consequences is lacking, and evidence with which to understand risk factors or motives for abandonment is scarce. International approaches to the issue remain controversial with outcomes unclear. Our systematic search identified that no specific UK policy relating to baby abandonment exists, either nationally or institutionally. This is compounded by a lack of accurate of UK abandonment statistics. Data that does exist is not comprehensive and sources are incompatible, resulting in an ambiguous picture of UK baby abandonment.

CONCLUSIONS

Available literature indicates an absence of clear provision, policy and research on baby abandonment. Based on current understanding of maternal and child mental health issues likely to be involved in abandonment, existing UK strategy could be easily adapted to avoid the 'learning from scratch' approach. National policies on recording and handling of baby abandonments are urgently needed, and future efforts should be concentrated on establishing clear data collection frameworks to inform understanding, guide competent practice and enable successfully targeted interventions.

Abandoned babies in the UK - a review utilizing media reports

BACKGROUND

In the absence of national policy or comprehensive data, the phenomenon of abandoned babies is poorly understood in the UK. This study aims to use media reports as a resource to collate existing information on abandoned babies and to draw conclusions to inform future response.

METHODS

An exhaustive media search using electronic searches and media monitoring was undertaken to glean systematic information on all abandoned babies in the UK from 1998-2005. These were matched onto two databases - the UK Crime Statistics and the UK Abandoned Children Register in an attempt to align information on infant abandonment. Media reports were coded to list gender, survival, age, parental finding and circumstantial data.

RESULTS

Our figures suggest an average of 16 babies abandoned yearly, while official sources give conflicting indications because of incomplete data gathering and child over-inclusion. Through systematic coding of media reports, 124 babies were identified over a 7-year period. Of these, 96 (77.4%) were newborns (<1 week old) and 28 (22.6%) were older babies (>1 week old). Adjusted logistic regression analysis found the strongest predictors of survival were age at abandonment and 'findability'. Newborn babies were less likely to survive than older babies (33.7% newborns died vs. 0% older babies, P < 0.0001). Babies left in a non-findable location (34%) had a 5.19 (2.06, 13.11) higher odds of death compared with those to be found. Most babies (74%) were abandoned outdoors and only 9.7% were left with a memento. Few mothers, almost exclusively those of older babies, were found (37.1%). Of those found, 92% were located within 3 days of abandoning their baby. Media interest is transient - 44.8% cases have a single report - and are typified by negative headlines (81.5%).

CONCLUSIONS

This database currently represents the most accurate and comprehensive picture of the newborn abandonment phenomenon in the UK, a phenomenon that is rare but with high media and social interest. If the future well-being of mother and baby are to be catered for, clearer evidence-based policy and provision is vital.

Safe-haven laws focus on abandoned newborns and their mothers

In the United States, 47 states have safe-haven laws that allow a mother to relinquish her newborn infant at a hospital emergency department or a manned fire station and maintain her anonymity. In addition to anonymity, immunity from prosecution is given to the mother, provided the relinquished newborn is unharmed and meets the age specified by the state's law. This article describes safe-haven laws and how they developed, barriers to successful use, nursing implications, and the nurse's role in increasing public awareness and influencing legislative policy.