2019 is Sleep Baby Safely Year in Pinellas

One healthy baby dies each month in Pinellas County due to suffocation while sleeping.

The Juvenile Welfare Board and a group of about 70 partner agencies are working together to teach people how to protect babies when they are laid down to sleep – “every night, every nap and every time.”

“Over the past 10 years, 102 babies in Pinellas County have suffocated while sleeping unsafely,” is the message on the homepage of www.sleepbabysafely.com. “That’s enough children to fill six kindergarten classrooms. While each circumstance was different, they all had one thing in common: All of these deaths were preventable.”

The Pinellas County Commission recently proclaimed 2019 as Sleep Baby Safely Year. During the Jan. 22 meeting, Commission Chair Karen Seel talked about the work JWB is doing to enhance an already established regional program called Prevent Needless Deaths.

According to the website www.preventneedlessdeaths.com, over the last five years, more than 200 young children in the Tampa Bay area have died from unsafe sleep, drowning and abusive head trauma.

The Sleep Baby Safely campaign singles out what has become the No. 1 cause of preventable death for children under age 18, Seel said.

Seel, who has a 14-month-old granddaughter, said she asked many questions when the Sleep Baby Safely campaign was presented at JWB. Seel is a JWB Board member.

“It’s amazing how research and horrible happenings, experiences or deaths have created better conditions and more knowledge for our mothers today.”

She said much has changed over the years to ensure babies sleep safe and provided a couple of examples.

“No longer do you put bumpers around the cribs because those are hazardous,” Seel said. “And now you place the baby on their back versus the stomach.”

The Sleep Baby Safely campaign is based on local data that features understandable language, undeniable facts and easy to remember tips, she said. Consistent messaging also is a factor, making sure everyone identifies the cause of death as suffocation — not sudden infant death syndrome.

Seel said it has been nearly 20 years since the District 6 Medical Examiner’s Office has determined an infant sleep-related death as SIDS.

Education is a big part of the Sleep Baby Safely campaign — making sure that everyone knows it is safest for babies to sleep on their back. They should also sleep in an empty crib, bassinet or Pack n’ Play.

All items should be removed from the crib, including blankets, pillows and stuffed animals. Mattresses should be firm and sheets should be tight fitting. Use a one-piece sleeper or sleep sack to keep babies warm.

More babies die in adult beds than any other place. Two-thirds of infant sleep-related deaths happened when parents shared a bed with their baby. Infants are 40 times more likely to die in adult bed than in their own crib. Other soft surfaces such as couches, futons, recliners and air mattresses also pose a risk of suffocation.

Mothers who bring their baby into their bed to nurse should return the child to the crib after they’re done. Set an alarm to make sure you don’t fall asleep.

Lynda Leedy, JWB’s chief administrative officer, talked about some of the ways those involved in the Sleep Baby Safely were working together to spread the message. A welcome bag was given to every single baby born in 2018. The bag includes safety literature and an onesie that says, “This side up,” on the front.

The County’s emergency medical services personnel are involved. Leedy said Sunstar paramedics, St. Petersburg Fire Rescue, Largo and Clearwater police, as well as the Sheriff’s Office had trained more than 2,500 employees, who are now able to “deliver direct on-scene safe sleep education.”

JWB and St. Petersburg Fire Rescue produced a video, featuring Recue Chief Ian Womack, who says, “I know all too well and seen way too many babies die from sleeping unsafely. And the tragic thing is — all these deaths could have been prevented.”

Healthy Start Coalition rebranded and expanded its Beds for Babies program and is providing a Pack n’ Play (bed) to every family that does not have a safe place for their baby to sleep.

“All these efforts collectively are working,” Leedy said, adding that the number of reports of infants deaths were down slightly in 2018.

“We hope to continue that trend in 2019,” she said.

To view article by Tampa Bay Newspapers visit: https://www.tbnweekly.com/pinellas_county/article_53c2cd28-2976-11e9-9280-fbc3592d4b38.html