How to Create a Friendly Hospital Adoption Policy

What Hospital Social Workers Should Do When Adoption Is Part of a Patient’s Plan

When a patient is considering adoption, your first step as a hospital social worker is to determine whether she is already working with an adoption agency and has a hospital adoption plan in place. This helps you understand what support she may need and who should be involved in coordinating her care.

Many women work with a licensed adoption agency during pregnancy to create an adoption plan. With guidance from an adoption specialist, they receive counseling and make decisions about their adoption experience, including:

• Choosing an Adoptive Family: Selecting the family they want to adopt their baby.
• Planning Future Contact: Deciding how much contact they want with the adoptive family during the process and what their relationship may look like after placement.
• Creating a Hospital Plan: Outlining their preferences for labor, delivery, time with their baby and involvement with the adoptive family.

With the patient's permission, hospital social workers can coordinate with her adoption professional to respect her wishes while leaving adoption-specific planning and counseling to the specialist.

Step 1: Identify the Patient's Adoption Professional or Connect Her With One

Ask your patient whether she is already working with an adoption agency. If she is, offer to contact her adoption specialist, with her permission, to let them know she is at the hospital and help coordinate any necessary support.

If she hasn't connected with an agency, you can provide trusted resources like American Adoptions. Our adoption specialists are available 24/7 at 1-800-ADOPTION to answer questions, provide options counseling and help patients explore adoption without pressure.

Step 2: Document the Adoption Plan and Inform the Care Team

Once you've confirmed your patient's adoption preferences, document her hospital plan and the contact information for her adoption professional in accordance with hospital policy. This may include her wishes regarding time with her baby, adoptive family involvement and other aspects of her hospital experience.

Make sure relevant nurses, physicians and social workers understand her current preferences using your hospital's approved communication procedures. A discreet, consistent process for sharing this information across departments and shift changes can help ensure continuity of care.

Your patient's wishes may change during her hospital stay, so update her plan and communicate any changes to the appropriate staff members as needed.

Step 3: Work With the Adoption Agency to Follow the Patient's Hospital Plan

During your patient's hospital stay, coordinate with her adoption specialist to help ensure her preferences are respected. The adoption specialist can assist with adoption-related arrangements while hospital staff provide appropriate medical care and accommodate her requests.

Depending on your patient's hospital adoption plan, this may include:

• Time With Her Baby: Respecting her wishes about seeing, holding, feeding or spending time with her baby
• Adoptive Family Involvement: Following her preferences for whether the prospective adoptive family is present during delivery or participates in other parts of her hospital experience
• Hospital Accommodations: Arranging reasonable accommodations, such as a separate room for the adoptive family or appropriate nursery access, when permitted by hospital policy

Your patient's preferences may change during labor or after delivery. Continue checking in with her and coordinating with her adoption specialist so her hospital experience reflects her current wishes, rather than relying solely on her original plan.

Step 4: Coordinate With Adoption and Legal Professionals for Consent

Adoption consent requirements vary by state, including when a mother can legally sign paperwork after giving birth. Her adoption specialist and attorney can explain these requirements, coordinate the necessary documents and guide her through the consent process.

As a hospital social worker, your role is to support your patient, respect her decisions and help coordinate with the appropriate professionals when needed. Ensure she has the opportunity to ask questions and make her decision without pressure.

If questions arise about consent timing, parental rights or other legal requirements, refer them to the adoption agency or attorney rather than interpreting adoption law yourself.

Step 5: Coordinate Discharge From the Hospital

Discharge can be an emotional part of the adoption process. Hospital staff should coordinate with the patient's adoption specialist to ensure arrangements reflect her wishes.

This may include allowing time for a final goodbye with her baby or the adoptive family, if requested, and asking whether she would prefer to leave the hospital before or after them.

If the baby requires an extended hospital or NICU stay, work with adoption and legal professionals to coordinate visitation and caregiving arrangements while respecting the birth mother's preferences and hospital policies.

What If a Patient Decides on Adoption at the Hospital?

Some patients may begin considering adoption during labor or after giving birth, without having an adoption plan or agency in place. In these situations, hospital staff can provide a qualified adoption resource while continuing to offer compassionate, nonjudgmental care.

American Adoptions has specialists available 24/7 to help women considering adoption at the hospital. With the patient's permission, hospital staff can connect her with an adoption specialist who can:

• Explain Her Options: Provide free counseling and information so she can make an informed decision without pressure.
• Help Create an Adoption Plan: Discuss her preferences for the adoption process, hospital experience and potential contact with her baby.
• Coordinate Next Steps: Help her explore waiting adoptive families if she chooses adoption and arrange appropriate legal and adoption-related support.

You can call 1-800-ADOPTION at any time to connect a patient with an adoption specialist.

Responsibilities of Nurses, Physicians and Other Hospital Staff in Adoption

Nurses, physicians and other hospital staff play an important role in supporting patients considering adoption. While social workers and adoption professionals may coordinate adoption-related arrangements, all members of the care team should understand how to provide respectful, consistent care.

Your hospital's adoption policy should establish clear expectations for staff, including:

• Provide Appropriate Medical Care: Prioritize the patient's health and well-being, offering compassionate, nonjudgmental care regardless of her adoption decision.
• Understand Her Hospital Plan: Familiarize yourself with the patient's preferences for labor, delivery, time with her baby and prospective adoptive family involvement.
• Respect Her Decisions: Follow her current wishes, remain flexible if her preferences change and use respectful adoption language when communicating with her.
• Follow Hospital Procedures: Use approved protocols for documenting preferences, sharing relevant information with the care team and protecting patient privacy.
• Involve Adoption Professionals: Refer questions about adoption planning, legal requirements or other adoption-specific matters to the patient's adoption specialist or appropriate hospital social worker.

When a hospital social worker is unavailable, staff should follow established procedures to connect patients who need adoption information with a qualified professional, with the patient's permission.

American Adoptions: A Trusted Referral Resource for Your Patients

Your hospital staff doesn't have to navigate the adoption process alone. American Adoptions provides 24/7 access to experienced adoption specialists who can answer questions, offer counseling and work directly with patients to create adoption plans that reflect their wishes.

Our team can also coordinate adoption-related arrangements with hospital staff, allowing you to focus on providing compassionate medical care while ensuring your patient has the specialized support she needs.

Call 1-800-ADOPTION when a patient is considering adoption or arrives with an existing American Adoptions plan. Our specialists are available to provide guidance and help coordinate the next steps.

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