Your baby's safety while you and your family are in our hospital is one of our primary goals. To insure the safety of you and your baby, St. Joseph Hospital Childbirth Center has developed strict safety measures to keep you and family safe. Some of the measures we have taken include:

• Immediately after birth, you, your baby, and your support person will receive matching identification bracelets. Please verify that the names are correctly spelled and that the numbers match.
• Whenever your baby is given to you or your support person, the bracelet number will be verified.
• Your baby must always be transported in a crib. No one should ever carry your baby in his/her arms in the hallway.
• Never leave your baby alone in your room. If you want to take a shower or an undisturbed nap, you can take your baby to the nursery or ask a nurse to transport him/her for you.
• Do not give your baby to anyone without proper identification. The nursing staff in the Maternal Child Health area has a unique identification badge. Your nurse will point this out to you.
• Question any person inquiring about your infant. Alert the nurses immediately if you have questions or feel uncomfortable with anyone in your room.
• You baby will wear a special transponder as part of our electronic security system. The staff will identify this for you.
• In an effort to protect your privacy, the nursing staff will not discuss personal information with anyone who phones. While this may be frustrating to your family and friends, they must only hear information from you or your support person.
• St. Joseph Hospital does not release any information to newspapers regarding the birth of your infant. Please consider the risk you may be taking if you permit a birth announcement to be published.