A time-honored tradition at Abrazo Arrowhead Community Hospital is getting a 21st-century makeover as the newborn nursery is moving to digital scanned footprints for all newborn babies.
The new handheld scanner will enter the digital footprint into the hospital system and allow parents to access the digital photos to share with family and friends.
Abrazo Arrowhead Community Hospital is the first hospital in the state to offer this service to new parents. A service that both nurses and parents love.
“As a matter of not having ink products it also lives forever in a digital format,” said Amy Munoz, the director of Women Services at Abrazo Arrowhead Community Hospital. “They can share it on social media, which is kind of a big thing for all of our parents.”
Social media friendly
The new format of footprints make it easier for new parents to post their bundle-of-joy’s prints on social media sites to announce their little one’s arrival. Before, parents had to scan the paper copy, which sometimes didn’t scan accurately or the ink would smudge before scanning.
“It’s nice to send the parents home with something they can keep forever.” Munoz said.
The digital prints also make it easier for parents to make keepsakes with the exact image of their baby’s feet.
No more ink!
An aspect that many parents of newborns may not be aware of, but nurses across the country dread, is the mess that ink-based printing causes.
“I think that the staff is really excited to get it,” Munoz beamed. “We’re not having to scrub ink off babies’ feet anymore, which can be really difficult to get off in between their toes.”
The thick ink would oftentimes smudge on the certificate as well, a problem that Arrowhead Hospital will no longer have to worry about.
Security in mind
The digital system also adds a layer of security to the neonatal unit at Arrowhead Hospital. Both of the mother’s index fingers are scanned into the system, along with a photo of the baby’s face, making any possible mix-ups before patient discharge even harder.
Momentos
Aside from social media, scans can be made of a premature baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit over a period. This would show the growth that the preemie made over the course of weeks or months. That is an option that could be invaluable to new parents.
“They can share it with family and friends, print it at their leisure and use it for whatever purposes they see fit.” Munoz said.