Before my daughter was born, I had a recurring nightmare about some shadowy figure stealing her away in the night. I would wake up in a panic only to remember -- forehead smack -- I was still pregnant! That was over 11 years ago, but it still sends a chill down my spine to think about the woman who dressed up in scrubs and attempted to steal a newborn baby girl from a Southern California hospital ... in a tote bag. A purple tie-dyed tote bag, no less!! (Even my nightmare didn't feature a purple tie-dyed tote bag.)
Thanks to hospital staff (and sensor ID tags), the woman, 48-year-old Grisel Ramirez, was apprehended quickly. The baby is fine and back with her mom (who will no doubt never let go of that child again, poor woman). But still! This is the stuff of nightmares and/or Lifetime movies, not real life. How is this new mom supposed to be able to distinguish between rational and irrational parenting fears from here on out?
If you're a mom, you know exactly the ongoing battle I'm talking about. We're always having to check ourselves when it comes to maternal worry. If you're up all night worrying about a giant hawk coming along and snatching your kid from the sandbox with its creepy talons, well, maybe you should think about filing that one under the "irrational" category (also, you should probably figure out where that weird hawk-related phobia is coming from). If, on the other hand, you're up all night worrying about a funny looking rash on your baby's tummy, well, might as well go ahead and call the doctor -- it's probably nothing, but it COULD be something. In other words, that one is a "rational" concern.
The fact that the would-be thief dressed up like a nurse and instructed the new mom to take a shower (then made off with the baby!) only makes things worse. It's hard enough trusting people to keep your kid safe -- every doctor, teacher, and babysitter is going to look like a would-be kidnapper to this mom! So unfair.
What is (or was) your worst new mom nightmare?
Image via Nate Grigg/Flickr
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Comments 36
scared i'm going to lose my son. we got a security system, but i still have dreams about people breaking in and the system not working or something... it used to bother the heck out of me that the nurses wanted to take him all the time. i was young then, with my next (in a few months) i will not let them take my baby from me. absolutely not.
I was never too worried in the hospital when I had my son (1 now), because if anyone got within ten feet of the maternity ward doors with a baby the chip on the umbilical cord would send a signal and the doors would lock and the whole ward would go on lock down! However, when I'm out with my son I'm always so terrified someone is going to take him. I always make sure his door is locked when I put him in the car and carry pepper spray with me everywhere! Plus, I don't let anyone I don't know touch or hold him.
thats why i love the security features they had at the hospital i delivered at. they went thru a whole procedure that we had to check certain things. only nurses with a certain color on their ID tag were ever allowed near the babies and the moment u even got a certain distance away from the moms bracelet and near the door with the baby an alarm would go off and all doors would lock.
My final pregnancy in 2000 was a nightmare I gave birth to my daughter 25 days prematurely and she was life flighted to Children's hospital with what I later found out was aspiration pnemonia. I was a wreck not knowing what was going on with my daughter I was taken to a room towards the end of the cul-de-sac in the hall on the maternity floor and was flooded by crying babies being united with their mothers throughout the night, I was finally moved to a different floor so I was able to finally try and calm down and first thing in the morning I woke up to two workers entering my room with equipment to paint it. Needless to say after that mess I am happy to say that I am the proud mother of 3 healthy happy children and have no plans on adding to that number thanks to the intervention of my surgical procedure.