New-York tribune., 1922-11-12
TAKING BAByy
FOOTPRIN1T 7
, EcENTLY q father broo,n
& against a hospital in New Je,... 7
Va the ground that the baby r,r....,

EX against hospital in New &.
the ground that the baby prss.s,..
his wife when she left the i,.ss.
was not their own. The doctor and
man and his wife both declared had ~,
their child was a boy, whereas tba o,,.
them was girl.
This case suggested to the United r.
Fund of New York and BROOKLYN ~
tion: Is it possible for babies Il ).
up in any of the maternity ward. !,
York?
Thousands Of babies are born e,.
the fifty-eight leading non-mun;e;n.,
tions of the United Hospital Fund :,
percentage Of the mothers are fres ~
the expense Of their care being defn.d !
of voluntary contributions collects !.
fund and distributed among the Ss.a.,
the basis Of the amount Of free can
the respective institutions.
"' 'N-' ''1e'@S Wy - spieseBydtyss IA a.
fund to determine just what safeyu.,a.
used to insure against baby nnix-ups NJ.
clusion reached was that in the great a.,..
hospitals OF New York, members Of the III.
Hospital Fund, it is practically ;nno.,;.s.,
a nnix-up to occur.
"Puddin'head WiIson's' Metdod
OF Identification
Take the Nursery and Child's Hosn;s,l !.
example. AS soon as baby Is besn d So. I
tized paper Is rubbed against his lItsl. =. :
An impression is then made ON hia .b.-
powder solution being sprinkled on the ir,,.
sion TO make 1t permanent. The ur;nt /. r.a
Of the foot rather than Of this hand bea,,
IN baby the foot lines are much n,ors j, 4
tinct. The mothers finger prints ara j, |
taken and placed on the back Of tbs .r
chart. This is all done before the rno.bs, !.
baby leave the room.
This is what might be called the apuass
head Wilson" method. You remember hou i. /
hero in Mark Twain's famous story rsy,sIs
the true identities of the negro and the a,;ssl {
crat who had been exchanged In their srs1ss 4
But the hospitals, still using the Nasey
and Child's as an example, go stiH fnrtisr
Before leaving the delivery room be nurs
writes in ink the baby's name, dsa d trA
and weight on two squares of linen, ak.
Baby Jones, September l6, 1929, pounds
ounces" These squares are sewed on the hi
fant's two undervests as added means of idssss
tlfication. When the garments are sent to u
laundry the squares are removed and sewEf
on the clean shirts put on the baby.
And that isn't all The nurse also wrisll
the name, "Baby Jones'" on a thin piece Of d
hesive tape. This adhesive tape is then plaal
on the baby as wrist band and remains thm
until the baby leaves the hospital.
In the Brooklyn Hospital the beaded nsal
lace is the favored method of insuring III
baby's identity. 1t was here the necksa
method was devised. It's popularity has guEl
rapidly, and now it is used in many hospitss
throughout the country. Before the batg /
taken from the delivery room necklacs {
blue beads is taken, and to it are added SQUAT
faced white beads, each white bead contains
separate letter. all of them together spsEn
the baby's name, thus: aB-a-b-y Smith
The completed necklace is then sealed with
Lead shot and remains ON the neck until s
baby leaves the institution.
The advantage of the bead necklace i shi
1t is both decorative and convenient. NT
ously, it would be rather cumbersome % LIT
up the baby's right foot and compara Il With
chart every time he had to be taken from Dis
crib IN the nursery to his mother One glance
at the bead necklace, however, is enough 9
establish his identity. Many mothers desHt
TO keep the necklaces as souvenirs. In ha
event they can purchase them from the ha
pital at cost.
1t is interesting to know, by the way hs
the standard sized necklace is nina inches, n
average baby's neck being just the circum'e
ence of a baseball.
The adoption of means of identification o
gan almost with the introduction of the ns
ternity hospitals about twenty years ago.
early became apparent that some means mus
be found not only to satisfy skeptical parsas
but as safeguard against the possibility
error by the hospitals themselves.
Literally, a Birthn,ark
in SilUer Nitrate