Wednesday, November 21 2007

THE ABDUCTION of Nekeisha Noel’s newborn baby boy from Mount Hope Women’s Hospital (MHWH) last Friday was similar in many ways to other such incidents.

Most infant abductions take place at hospitals because abductors prefer places which are busy, and where staff, other patients, and mothers are more likely to be distracted, and be less likely to recognise or bother about a stranger who may look as if they don’t belong there.

Fortunately, most children taken from hospitals are located and returned safely within a few days to two weeks.

The abductors almost always look after the child very well, as they indeed treat them as their own.

They often live in the same general community as the mother and in the vicinity of the hospital.

Online research by Newsday revealed that a maternity ward, such as the one from which Noel’s infant was taken, is well suited to the abductor’s purposes. It is busy, not only because of the comings and goings of its own staff, but also because of a higher turnover of new patients and their families than in most other parts of the hospital.

The Noel case was typical: a woman arrived, pretending to be a nurse, and convinced the mother to leave the infant for the few minutes needed for her to leave the ward with the baby, who was just ten hours old at the time.

According to a psychological profile obtained by Newsday, the infant abductor is almost always a woman, generally between the ages of 14 and 45 years, and often overweight. The abductor is usually someone with low self-esteem, involved in problematic relationships.

She may have lost a child of her own, or may have significant problems in trying to conceive or carry to full-term.

Around half of the babies who are stolen are less than a week old, and boys and girls are equally at risk.

While the actual abduction may appear to have been impulsive, it is likely that the abductor had been preparing for some time. She may have carefully scouted out one or more maternity units, checking staffing movements, timing of meals and other routines, as well as potential escape routes. She may have talked to family and friends about “her pregnancy,” and may even have arranged for suitably placed pillows to mimic the growing bulge of pregnancy, and may have prepared by buying baby clothes, toys, etc.

Such was the case with Karen Susan Hill, a former nurse’s aide in Canada who pleaded guilty to kidnapping five-day-old Shelby Walsh from a Burlington, Ont, hospital in 1993. At her trial, she said she pretended she was pregnant for months, hoping her abusive common-law husband would treat her better.

Some women develop phantom pregnancies, and their bodies even begin to mimic all the classic signs of pregnancy.

“The wish to be pregnant is so powerful that not only do you convince yourself that you’re pregnant, you convince your body that you’re pregnant,” said Dr Elliot Atkins, a Philadelphia psychiatrist. “In a sense, it is a mental illness because it is a delusion. But you don’t have to be mentally ill to develop that condition. It is not like you are psychotic.”

Dr Atkins testified in the case of Carolyn Correa, who kidnapped a ten-day-old girl from a burning house in 1997 and raised her as her own. He said Correa suffered from the psychological condition and often appeared at hospitals reporting symptoms of pregnancy.

The baby’s mother, Luz Cuevas, thought her daughter had died in the house fire, but in 2004 recognized the child’s dimpled smile at a birthday party. Cuevas pretended the little girl had chewing gum in her hair and took a few strands for DNA testing. They were reunited a few months after.

Correa was sentenced to nine to 30 years in prison.

In the case of Karen Susan Hill, who said she would not have hurt the baby “for anything”she was sentenced to seven years in prison.

In passing sentence Judge Patrick Lesage had remarked: “She is not an evil person, but she has committed an evil crime.”

According to security experts, simple preventative measures can prevent many abductions.

All institutions where babies are born and where babies and infants are cared for, need to have a clear routine set of practices to provide such safeguards.

There should be good security, with CCTV cameras, recordings, and alert security guards specifically aware of this particular risk.

One recommended security measure is to have special identity bracelets, which would be hard to remove rapidly, and which would sound an alarm if the child passed through any of the exits from the ward area. The infant’s ID band should match that worn by the mother.

Staff should be taught to recognise unusual and suspicious behaviour, such as:

- People who frequently visit a ward just to see or hold the babies

- People who try to steal hospital uniforms and IDs

- Visitors who ask too many questions about feeding times, the movements of babies between mothers and nursery, emergency exits, and so forth

- People carrying parcels and bags large enough to conceal a baby, especially if they appear to be carrying them with extra care.