Newport Beach : Hospital to Continue Issuing Birth Lists

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian is not yet ready to abandon its 42-year-old tradition of sending a list of birth announcements to local newspapers.

After the local media reported last month that the hospital had stopped issuing birth announcements because of security concerns, Hoag officials recently revived the tradition until they come up with a viable alternative, said Maureen Mazzatenta, a hospital spokeswoman.

Since opening in 1952, Hoag Hospital has been providing monthly lists to newspapers that include each baby’s date of birth, the names of the parents and their hometown. Many parentsclip the newspaper items for souvenirs.

But this spring, when staff became concerned that the information could be used by an abductor to locate homes with newborns, hospital officials stopped issuing the list as they explored alternatives.

Now the list is back, but names are provided only with parental permission.

“In the short term, we are releasing information with parents’ permission,” Mazzatenta said. “In the long term, we are developing an informational card . . . that (the parents) candisseminate to the papers as they see fit.”

At some hospitals in the county, staff members no longer issue birth announcements. Others leave it up to parents to provide the information for publication.