Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
Labor and Delivery
310-267-7560
Maternity Unit
310-267-7510
Congratulations on the upcoming birth of your child! In addition to ensuring that you and your newborn receive the best medical care possible, UCLA Health System diligently enforces strict security measures to protect your baby's physical safety from unlikely events such as abduction.
Please familiarize yourself with the following precautionary measures that the medical center and its Perinatal Unit have in place to secure your newborn's safety.
All hospital personnel must prominently display a UCLA Health System identification badge. This badge shows the authorized staff member's name, title and department. Perinatal staff badges will include a pink stripe. If you are unsure about a staff member, please ask a nurse to verify the person's identity.
As soon as your baby is delivered, two bracelets will be placed on your baby's wrist or ankles. The bracelets are marked with a five-digit code, your baby's sex, birth date and time, and the mother's name. For further identification verification, you and your partner will also each receive a bracelet with the same information as listed on your baby's bracelet. Your bracelet and your baby's bracelet will be matched and verified throughout your stay and upon leaving the hospital.
In addition, an electronic security tag is attached to your baby's bracelet. This will activate an audible alarm if the baby is taken out of the Perinatal Unit. A hospitalwide system is in place to respond to this alarm.
Babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) are continuously monitored by the NICU staff and will receive an electronic security tag when they leave the NICU and arrive in the Nursery.
For security reasons, a nurse will photograph your baby shortly after his or her birth. This digital photograph will be deleted upon discharge from the hospital. For more details, please contact your nurse.
Certain areas of the hospital, including the Perinatal Unit, exits, stairways, elevators and hallways are under 24-hour videotape surveillance.
All babies are transported in their cribs. Staff members may not carry babies out of the rooms in their arms. Please stop anyone who tries to do so or contact your nurse immediately.
You are welcome to stroll with your baby in our unit hallways; however, the baby must remain in his/her crib. Please remember that your baby's bracelet may accidentally sound the alarms located at the exits. If this happens, a staff member will question you to verify your identity.
If you must leave your room, please do not leave your baby unattended. If a family member is not available to watch your infant, a staff member may do so upon request.
If you have any questions, please ask your labor or postpartum nurse.
