Footprints on Birth Certificate

[muse217]

Like most babies born in Hudson County, NJ, in the 50s, (I came along in 1958) I was born in the Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital, now called Jersey City Medical Center. No footprints... probably no fingerprints... maybe the gypsies really did leave me on the doorstep!:dance:

 

[KarlK]

I had my footprints taken. 1962.

One of my daughters was born with a club foot, and you couldn't tell if it was right or left from a mere footprint as there wasn't the typical shape to it. I wonder if that's why some see 'left foot' 'right foot' on their birth certificates-for deformities like that....

Ah that makes sense, I never thought of that.

 

[MacPlus512]

Wow, I'm a youngster here!

Born in PA in 1986, no footprints on mine.

The hospital did take my footprints on a little card but it was mostly for hospital use and doesn't count as ID. They also did that to my deceased brother's feet (born 1987). No fingerprints were taken at the hospital although my mom did have them done at a community day in 1989 when the local police department was offering it. (The 1989 prints didn't work when I applied for clearances for my job, I had to go to the police station to get a new set made--perhaps the fact that I was three and my fingers have obviously grown made it necessary).

 

[ihadcabinfever]

Wow, I'm a youngster here!

Born in PA in 1986, no footprints on mine.

The hospital did take my footprints on a little card but it was mostly for hospital use and doesn't count as ID. They also did that to my deceased brother's feet (born 1987). No fingerprints were taken at the hospital although my mom did have them done at a community day in 1989 when the local police department was offering it. (The 1989 prints didn't work when I applied for clearances for my job, I had to go to the police station to get a new set made--perhaps the fact that I was three and my fingers have obviously grown made it necessary).

Your just a baby.

 

[Taximom]

Ah that makes sense, I never thought of that.

Me either till that day!

 

[pedinurse]

How many people here, the older ones have footprint stamps on there origonal birth certificate?
I do . From 1963!!! yes I am old. I wonder how many other people can use this for I.D. if they still have it?
Is it usable or does your foot change as you grow ?

when i end up working in the nursery i still do them. we put them on the back of the keepsake birth certificate. hope that helps. i don't know if they truely can help ID though especially on a grown person when compared to a newborn. also, there isn't any special training on how they are done - its not like a police officer comes in and teaches us nurses how to do baby footprints to make sure we do them correctly! sometimes, since I don't do nursery very often... and if i have a baby that just won't cooperate... i just have to get a nurse that does baby footprints everyday to come and do it! We just make sure we try to get the whole foot, that they are printed on there correctly, and that they look nice. so IF they are actually useful for LE... heres to hoping they are being done correctly. you know what i mean? i don't mean to be snide about that... but do you know how many sets of baby footprints are being done by nurses every day! gosh! when i did my fingerprints for my background checks for the state, the experienced LE officer who did them went through two cards because he messed up. getting good prints can be difficult. those that he shredded looked good to me. anyway, DNA would be much more likely to connect a stolen baby back to his or her parents these days if recovered, don't you guys think?

 

[pedinurse]

Both feet on mine. Hands as well. There's even the caption "Left Foot", "Right Foot" underneath each one which I always thought was odd, as if we couldn't tell the difference! My take is that this was done mostly for sentimental reasons, I don't think it was intended for ID'ing purposes. Heck, maybe it was done simply to prevent hospital staff from inadvertently switching babies on sedated mothers.

As you imply, this was done at the hospital and does not appear on the official birth certificate issued by the state. I have no idea if the state keeps a copy of those footprints or if it's restricted to hospital records.

Babies have wrinkly little feet, and they change so much... I do not know that they would serve much purpose as they grow for ID purposes.

 

[pedinurse]

Wow, I'm a youngster here!

Born in PA in 1986, no footprints on mine.

The hospital did take my footprints on a little card but it was mostly for hospital use and doesn't count as ID. They also did that to my deceased brother's feet (born 1987). No fingerprints were taken at the hospital although my mom did have them done at a community day in 1989 when the local police department was offering it. (The 1989 prints didn't work when I applied for clearances for my job, I had to go to the police station to get a new set made--perhaps the fact that I was three and my fingers have obviously grown made it necessary).

I remember growing up and going to places like Wal-mart and getting my fingerprints done frequently. We took our little ones to an event a few weeks ago where they took the kid's pictures, information, DNA swabs, dental impressions, and digital fingerprints and also took down our contact information. At the end of it before we left were given a DVD and the swabs to take home with us to give to LE if one of the children were ever missing - the information meets amber alert standards so that it can be easily and quickly transmitted. I thought that was SO nice. It was free too. So nice for people with small kids. Think of how great that would be when time was of the essence.

http://www.mochip.org/

 

[poco]

Mine has my foot prints - wonder what the purpose of that was for anyway???

My feet are much bigger now.