The birth of Daniella Luna on Nov. 16, at Abrazo Arrowhead Campus in Glendale, was a deeply personal celebration for her parents — and a meaningful moment in the ongoing advancement of newborn safety across the United States.

Abby Luna, a 34-year-old registered nurse who has worked at Abrazo Arrowhead for several years, chose the hospital’s CertaScan Technologies digital foot printing system for her baby without hesitation.

“It’s about safety in today’s world and using the most advanced technology available to capture her footprints,” said Luna. “These high-resolution digital records not only provide lifelong protection, but also create beautiful, personalized keepsakes we can treasure forever to celebrate her birth.”

The CertaScan Infant Safety System, now used in more than 160 hospitals nationwide, has recorded high-resolution digital footprints for more than 1.5 million newborns—replacing traditional ink-and-paper methods that remain in use at approximately 65% of U.S. hospitals and are often smudged, incomplete, or unusable for actual identification.

Abrazo Arrowhead Campus was the first hospital in Arizona to implement the CertaScan system in 2019.

“In less than three minutes, the non-invasive, mess-free process captures detailed footprints, a facial photograph of the infant for visual matching, and the mother’s index fingerprint,” said Laura Brooker, Supervisor for Couplet Care, Abrazo Arrowhead Campus.

The resulting biometric-quality images are permanently stored in a secure cloud database, enabling accurate identification if ever needed while allowing parents to access their child’s records to create custom birth announcements, jewelry, and other fun mementos.

According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, footprints have been instrumental in resolving numerous infant abduction cases since records began in 1983.

(Photo provided by Abrazo Arrowhead)

(Photo provided by Abrazo Arrowhead)