Thursday, June 23, 2005

Abducted Baby Found

On Sunday, the story of a newborn infant abducted from the Sungai Petani Hospital was frontpaged in the Star. The boy had not even been named yet.

Today at 4:00 am, the baby was found. The nurse did it. It is believed that she abducted the infant as her own child had died.

Mae and I really feel for the parents Noryati Abu Bakar, 31 and Mohamad Nordin Derais, 34. If the same had happened to us, I'm not sure we would be able to handle it. Thank God the baby was found. Kudos to the Police for breaking the case, and to the Star for highlighting it. And may God bless this family.

When the story broke on Sunday, hospitals all over the country tightened their security. Well, it's about damn time! Parents should never have to worry about the safety of their babies in the care of the hospitals. All hospital nurseries should adhere to the following safety measures:

  • Password/passcard activated door to nursery

  • Sentry post inside nursery

  • CCTV inside and outside nursery

  • Restricted entrance pass to dedicated nurses only

  • No unsupervised transfer of baby from nursery by parents or relatives

  • Security ID for nurses handling babies

  • But aside from these obvious security measures, hospitals also need to check on the background of their staff. In the Sungai Petani case, was the nurse in question ever given psychiatric evaluation after the loss of her child? Was she given proper psychiatric care? Should she have been transferred to a different department, instead of being in one that might further "aggravate" her loss?

    What she did was wrong. But yet, I can't help but feel pity for the poor woman. I can only hope she will get the necessary medical attention for her condition. That's the least anybody can do for her now.

    15 comments:

    1. Thank god, the baby's ok. I must say the police did a real good job.
      And I agree with you. Although the nurse is wrong, but I thnk she'll need psychiatric help and care.

      ReplyDelete
    2. Hey I was thinking in the same line as you. Can't blame the nurse 100% but there must be some kind of indication that the husband/colleagues/relatives could have picked up??

      ReplyDelete
    3. PHEW. Poor parents. Hope this doesn't provide a smokescreen for the hospital to shirk accountability.

      ReplyDelete
    4. I was relieved too when I heard the news this morning. I suspected it to be an inside job. Poor parents had to be so worried for these few days, I would think it was the toughest time of their life.
      Hey my hospital does a good job in the nursery security. Parents are only allowed into the nursery. They have line on the floor where parents have to keep away from the line and the baby is pushed to the parents. I think there is also a CCTV there to monitor....etc..etc.

      ReplyDelete
    5. It's definitely a relief. But quite shy also, SP is my hometown.

      ReplyDelete
    6. aiyoh.... you sound so riled up! Then again, I'm sure all parents are as emotional... esp when it comes to children. Just hope the poor mom will now finally rest and eat.

      ReplyDelete
    7. Papi, I guess our CSI is not too bad, eh? :)
      Apparently, the nurse had help from her (the nurse) hubby, Babe!
      I think it's gonna be hard for the hospital to wiggle out of this one, Spot. I hope the couple sues them.
      That the way it should be, Michelle. We went to Damansara Specialist Hosp. It was quite safe there.
      Indeed, Belacan!
      Aiya Anjali!!!! :)
      Poor mom must have been thru hell, MOO+1. *sigh*

      ReplyDelete
    8. hmmm first, Rojak Post, now, news post. Ok, it did say "Perpetually Under Construstion". I know, I'm being anally retentive. I'm on a rampage today.. hehe!
      Jokes aside, I glad it all ended well for the family. Know what? I think CSI would NOT have been able to close case, if not for all that awesome publicity, like 3 consecutive days of Front Page coverage in most main papers, TV, Radio...blogs...hah, honestly, blogs must work harder so people won't say we're narcissitic, always so absorbed in our personal fantasies, trial and tribulations. ...
      Whoopsy diasies, told you I'm on a rampage.. muchy sorry, james.

      ReplyDelete
    9. Gosh, the baby is soooo cute! Thank goodness it was found and not dead or something, I wouldn't be able to sleep tonite if that were the case.
      Thanks for the local news update! I rarely get news from back home anymore (if only about how excited my dad is to be greeting his first grandson)
      I also felt sorry for the nurse, she shouldn't have done that but desperate times call for desperate measures. Not only should they have had a psychological screening, she should have been given a grief period instead of letting her come back to work. Post-partum doesn't last very long so I've experienced from a miscarriage, she probably just needed to talk to or see someone about her loss.
      In the States, psychological care is almost as abundantly available as clinical care. It's not without it's cons as well, but damn, it helps.

      ReplyDelete
    10. THANKS GOD!!! and thanks for blogging this, at least tonight no need to hang my heart to sleep thinking of the mother's face.

      ReplyDelete
    11. Thank God! I was following the story when it first came out on Sunday and I felt so sorry for the parents. Like you, I don't think I could handle it if it were to happen to me.

      ReplyDelete
    12. You sound more like you're drunk, Percolator. :)
      I think psychological care is still very much in its infancy here, Gwen. I suppose it's the stigma attached.
      I know what you mean Twinsmom. I've been thinking about it a lot too.
      We can only pray it never happens to anyone, Ariel.

      ReplyDelete
    13. Oh, we went for a hospital tour today of the maternity wards and to meet the nurse staff. The babies here have bands with electronic chips embedded in them so that if someone as soon as takes the baby through the elevator doors or any fire exit, alarms will sound. I thought that was a really neat security feature but probably wouldn't work as well against someone who knew the inside workings of the hospital :(

      ReplyDelete
    14. That is excellent security, Gwen. Though you're probably right about insiders, at the very least some security might deter would be kidnappers.

      ReplyDelete