'Hopefully our message comes across loud and clear.... Every patient has a right to privacy and dignity, and we say that includes tiny babies as well.'

Managers at Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax have asked visitors to the maternity wing not to stare into cots or question mothers about their labor.

Staff in one of the wards have put up a display of a doll in a cot with a message saying: "What makes you think I want to be looked at?"

Respect the Child

But not all mothers are so keen to have the privacy of their child protected.

Lynsey Pearson, 26, who gave birth to her daughter Hannah four weeks ago, said: "This ludicrous idea is taking patient confidentiality to the extreme.

"If people did not ask me questions about my baby I would be offended.

"I am so proud of Hannah and I want to show her off and I would imagine all new mums feel that way.

"When I was in hospital even the cleaners asked me questions and touched her and cuddled her.

"Babies love attention and I think it is cruel to ask visitors and parents basically to ignore them."

Debbie Lawson, a ward sister at the special care baby unit, said: "We know people have good intentions and most cannot resist cooing over new babies but we need to respect the child.

"Cooing should be a thing of the past because these are little people with the same rights as you or me.

"We often get visitors wandering over to peer into cots but people sometimes touch or talk about the baby like they would if they were examining tins in a supermarket and that should not happen.

"Hopefully our message comes across loud and clear. The Government has set a benchmark that every patient has a right to privacy and dignity and we say that includes tiny babies as well.

"I can't imagine why any mother would complain about this. Most would be against strangers poking and prodding and asking questions."

Bureaucracy Gone Mad

The hospital held an "advice day" last week to promote the initiative. Cards were handed out to visitors headlined "Respect my baby," with a message underneath as written by a baby. "I am small and precious so treat me with privacy and respect," it said. "My parents ask you to treat my personal space with consideration.

"I deserve to be left undisturbed and protected against unwanted public view."

Hospital management tried to play down the initiative, insisting they were just "common sense" measures and not "firm rules."

A spokesman for Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust said visitors were not banned from talking to mothers and an important part of the initiative was concerned with infection control.

"Staff were wishing to highlight issues of patient confidentiality and dignity, especially for young babies and their parents in what can be very emotional times," said the spokesman.

"Infection control was also a key part of the message as the unit deals with very small babies with very vulnerable immune systems." The inspiration for the initiative was a Department of Health booklet called Essence of Care, which is described as a "practical toolkit" for nurses. It includes a section on "privacy and dignity" of patients.

Halifax Labour MP Linda Riordan said: "It is bureaucracy gone mad. All mothers want people to admire their babies because all babies are beautiful.

"But in a case where a mother did not want to answer questions it should be up to that individual to say so."