No more New Year’s babies? More hospitals keeping birth info a secret

Bye, bye Baby New Year. The crowning of the year’s first baby is being kept secret in many communities as hospitals say safety concerns trump tradition. Community Health Systems — one of the United States’ largest health care operators — recently ordered its 207 facilities to stop publicizing the first baby of the year, citing the potential for abductions and identity theft. Other U.S. hospitals have either removed themselves from the new year’s tradition altogether or limited the amount of information provided to the media.

We know the birth of the new year baby is a joyous and exciting event, but protecting patient safety and privacy is our most important responsibility.

Tomi Galin, a spokeswoman for Community Health Systems

Community Health Systems spokeswoman Tomi Galin pointed to guidance from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which has suggested health care providers obtain parental consent and eliminate home addresses and other identifying information from birth announcements or stop providing them to media. Community Health’s decision to opt-out of the New Year’s baby business made headlines this week after local journalists learned they would need to look elsewhere for news on the usually slow holiday. But doctors at Community will still let parents know if their baby arrived first and that new moms and dads could still contact the media on their own — so long as reporters and photographers stayed away from the maternity ward.

We’ve only had positive experiences promoting the first baby of the new year.

Jen Bender

Health