Alarmed by the abduction of a new-born baby from a government maternity hospital, the State government has decided to enforce stringent measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents in future.

The government has issued a series of guidelines that should be adhered to by the superintendents of all maternity hospitals following the incident in which a new-born was abducted by an unidentified lady from the maternity hospital in Koti.

The baby was rescued subsequently as the alert cops traced the whereabouts of the woman and arrested her in Bidar in neighbouring Karnataka.

In the circular issued, the Director of Medical Education has asked the superintendents to ensure all babies born have a tag with identification details. Passes for the attendant of the mother should be made mandatory without which they should not be allowed inside. Mothers should not hand over babies to any person for treatment/immunisation including the hospital personnel without attendant of the patient family with a valid pass.

Steps should be taken to ensure that immunisation is done on the bed side and visitors should be allowed during the specified hours only.

The superintendents are directed to take steps to ensure that all entry and exist gates of the wards concerned are manned by security personnel.

The activities should be closely monitored through the CCTV cameras installed and steps should be taken to install more CCTV cameras at strategic points.

Babies should not be allowed to go outside the hospital without a valid discharge slip signed by the in-charge nurse of the ward as gate pass for the baby and this rule should be adhered to strictly.

A register should be maintained at the gate for entering the details of the discharged baby. Instructions are also issued to doctors, paramedical staff, security, sanitation and patient care providers for carrying their identity cards and they should be in the dress assigned to them.

Any person moving suspiciously should be handed over to the police and the authorities concerned should educate mothers and patient attendants on safety precautions which should be promptly displayed on the notice boards.

Any person moving suspiciously should be handed over to the police.

Director of Medical Education

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