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Infant abductions from hospitals reduced

Healthcare Security Weekly, September 8, 2008

Better security measures have resulted in fewer infant abductions from hospitals in the United States, according to a new study.

While infant abductions are increasingly rare, the average kidnapper is likely to be an overweight woman between the ages of 12 and 50, who has feigned pregnancy, according to a report published in the American Journal of Nursing on September 3.

The study, led by psychiatric nursing professor Ann Wolbert Burgess of Boston College, examined 247 cases of infant abductions between 1982 and 2006 and provides a profile of a typical abductor, reported Reuters news service. The study concluded that kidnappings of newborns from hospitals are much rarer than they were, in part because of heightened security, while abductions from homes and in public places increased, Reuters said.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, worked with Burgess’ team on the report. According to the profile developed by the study, the typical abductor may visit nursery and maternity units at more than one hospital before an abduction and ask detailed questions about procedures and unit layout. Abductors also frequently impersonate a nurse or other healthcare provider.

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