Poll: Who's the daddy? Paternity test.

[iblis666]

I'd do it just so i'm sure the hospital hasn't swapped my baby for someone else's by mistake. Considering most of the nurses there work 14-18 hour shifts I can see mistakes being made rather often.

The hospital my wife gave birth at stopped seperating babies (except for Neonatal ICU of course) from parents several years ago. Studies have shown that both mother and child do better if they are kept together, and it improves security. The both sleep better, breast feeding success is significantly improved, and most significantly, it reduces the chance of SIDS.

The partner and mother are tagged with an ID bracelet prior to delivery. Immediatey after birth the baby is tagged with a security band that matches the ID on the parents bracelets. That security band can't get within 10 feet of an elevator or stairwell without triggering alarms and activating a security lockdown. If you cut the band, same alarms.

At birth the baby is weighed and assessed within eyeshot of the parents. If it is a C-section birth the child is handed off after being cleaned up to the partner until the mother is sewn up. In a natural birth the baby is put on the mother immedidately after the baby is assessed.

A bassonette is placed bedside in the mother's bed for the duration of her stay. A small nursery does exist at the nursing station if the mother "needs a break" and her partner is not present.

All hosptials need to move in this direction.

(Sorry for going OT but it really bugs me that so many hospitals are still in the dark ages)

wish they had that when i was born

as a person who almost was switched at birth(thank god i was the only white kid in the nursery at the time or the philipino nurse may have succeeded) dna testing should be mandatory at least 3 times in a persons life. One when the child is still in the womb, two when the child is fully in the care of the parents, and three when a person dies and all three should be stored in a computer for future comparisons.

 

[Mittens The Kitten]

Genetics shouldn't mean anything in child-raising.

It means a great deal in parenting. The hospital needs to know who the genetic background of the mother and father to determine that child's risk for genetic diseases and abnormalities that run in the family. It's imperative that the father and mother's backgrounds be known for the health of the child.

I feel you're missing the spirit of my comment, I agree that genetics shouldn't be discounted in the application of medical care.

 

[SilentCom]

I don't think paternity tests should be mandatory but the option available if there is reasonable doubt.

Wouldn't work, the pressure is then on the father because he doesn't trust the mother. Which would nearly always cause a huge row, whether or not there's any cause for it (ie. guilt).

If it's a standard test then there's no judgement from either party. It'd be a good thing to know anyway, medically speaking. Actual fathers are likely to be possible donors, mugs are not.

Unless of course the test is done without the knowledge of the mother as to prevent feelings of guilt. I'm not really sure how these tests are done but I do see your point. It might be better then if it was mandatory or if the doctors did the tests and only notify the parents if the dna did not match both parents.

 

[Mister Benoit]

I'd do it just so i'm sure the hospital hasn't swapped my baby for someone else's by mistake. Considering most of the nurses there work 14-18 hour shifts I can see mistakes being made rather often.

The hospital my wife gave birth at stopped seperating babies (except for Neonatal ICU of course) from parents several years ago. Studies have shown that both mother and child do better if they are kept together, and it improves security. The both sleep better, breast feeding success is significantly improved, and most significantly, it reduces the chance of SIDS.

The partner and mother are tagged with an ID bracelet prior to delivery. Immediatey after birth the baby is tagged with a security band that matches the ID on the parents bracelets. That security band can't get within 10 feet of an elevator or stairwell without triggering alarms and activating a security lockdown. If you cut the band, same alarms.

At birth the baby is weighed and assessed within eyeshot of the parents. If it is a C-section birth the child is handed off after being cleaned up to the partner until the mother is sewn up. In a natural birth the baby is put on the mother immedidately after the baby is assessed.

A bassonette is placed bedside in the mother's bed for the duration of her stay. A small nursery does exist at the nursing station if the mother "needs a break" and her partner is not present.

All hosptials need to move in this direction.

(Sorry for going OT but it really bugs me that so many hospitals are still in the dark ages)

That's really awesome, shame more places don't have those technologies although by all means I don't work or spend much time in a hospital so as far as I know they could have.

When I was born I came out a much darker tone than my parents and when they brought me back to my parents they were confused, reason I mentioned it.