Digital baby footprints offers added security

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Shana Bedi and her husband are beaming as they enter their new chapter of parenthood.

They just welcomed their first child, a baby girl.

New technology is making babies first foot prints a bit easier.

"We are just so happy to have her here with us in the world," said Bedi.

They are also stepping in to a modern medical territory that's changed from when they were babies.

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Instead of capturing their daughter's footprints using an ink pad, Bayfront Health Baby Place in St. Petersburg uses a system called a Certascan to take a digital image.

Certascan is the system used to make the digital image.

"Now you can go online, and you can just download your digital print, and you can print out as many as you want to. The parents love it because we used to do ink pads, which are kind of messy, and they would get a copy of that. It also gives us an opportunity for moms to take those footprints and make pictures and make canvases posted on social media, share it with family members who couldn't be here," explained Sharmane Andrews, the Director of Nursing.

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But besides sharing a special moment in time with loved ones, this technology provides an added security for parents and their babies.

Newborns are getting digital footprints that make parents feel safer.

"It just gives us an opportunity to always have that record, especially in the era of missing children and abductions and things like that. We also are uploading these into our electronic medical record, along with the baby's photo and mom's fingerprint, and then also into our encrypted cloud software and law enforcement as well, so it's a good safety feature to have," said Andrews.

"I think security is very important and happy to have all these different options for baby and for me," added Bedi.