Thomson Medical Centre enhances infant security

SINGAPORE -- Mothers who deliver their babies at Thomson Medical Centre (TMC) will now enjoy a greater peace of mind with the launch of a baby tagging solution.

Using RFID (radio frequency identification) technology, the Cadi SmartSense Infant Safety Solution (Gen II) from Cadi Scientific allows parents to ensure that the right baby is matched with the right mother at all times during their stay at the hospital after childbirth.

With the tagging system in place at Thomson Medical Centre, a mother and her baby are fitted with pre-matched tags with hypo-allergenic straps upon their arrival at the maternity ward, in addition to the manual tags worn by both mother and baby in the labour ward moments after childbirth. The mother's tag is fitted to her wrist, while the baby's tag is fitted to his ankle. When the baby is brought to his mother, the mother tag will automatically verify if the baby is the correct one through a green light display and a pleasant tune on the mother's tag when both tags match. If they do not match, a red light will flash on the mother's tag and a warning beep to alert the mother and ward nurse.

The baby's tag is tamper-proof and an alert will sound if unauthorised individuals attempt to remove it. The baby's tag also has a skin-detection feature, where an alert will sound should the tag become loose. This is important as newborns often lose weight during the first few days after birth.

Parents can also press a button on the mother's tag at any time, to check if the baby matches. This "on-demand" feature helps alleviate parents' anxiety as they can verify if they have the right baby at any time. TMC is the first maternity hospital in Singapore with a tagging system that comes with such a feature.

When the mother and baby are ready to be discharged from the hospital, the ward nurse will ensure both tags match before they are removed. The parents can leave the hospital with the assurance that they have the right baby.