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As health care providers and educators we all too often feel the pain of parents and loved ones as they experience heart breaking loss due to SIDS and other sleep related infant deaths . With October being recognized as National SIDS Awareness Month, let's take this opportunity to provide additional focus and education on SIDS risk factors and the prevention of sleep related deaths, many of which are predictable and preventable. . . and let's begin to close the gap in racial and socioeconomic disparities related to this topic.
Included in this action alert, you will find: statistics; tips for preventability; provider and patient resources, including provider training opportunities and resources specific to SIDS Awareness Month and pre-made social media posts. Each graphic coincides with a corresponding messaging found in the "Social Media Graphics and Messages" section below. We hope that you find these resources helpful and will put them to good use!
Please feel free to share this action alert and its resources with your community partners to help spread this messaging to a broader audience. Thank you so much for all you do to educate families and protect our babies!
View the full action alert PDF, share the Social Media Graphics and Messages below, and check out the list of Resources!
Social Media Graphics and Messages
1. Breastfeeding Reduces the Risk of SIDS
Caption: Breastfeeding reduces the risk of SIDS. Providing breastmilk to your baby for as little as two months has been shown to significantly reduce the risk of SIDS, whether you're breastfeeding exclusively or combination feeding!
Find Local Breastfeeding Resources: http://ksbreastfeeding.org/resources/
Source: AAP News & Journals
2. Share a Room - Not a Bed!
Caption: Share a room with your baby - not a bed! One of the easiest ways to help protect your baby from SIDS and suffocation is providing them with their own safe sleep area. Safety approved cribs, including pack-and-plays with a bassinet insert, can be easily placed within arm's reach of your bed. Sleep surfaces should be free of clutter like bedding, toys, and bumpers, and your baby should always sleep on their back. Just remember the ABCs of Safe Sleep! A-Alone, B-Back, C-Crib
Source: www.marchofdimes.org/baby/safe-sleep-for-your-baby.aspx
3. Know and Show a Safe Sleep Environment!
Caption: Know and show a safe sleep environment! Check out this informative video demonstrating portable crib assembly and safe sleep guidelines. www.kidsks.org/safe-sleep.html
4. Vaccines and SIDS
Caption: Vaccines not only protect your baby against infectious diseases, but they can help reduce the chance of SIDS too! Studies show that just by following your child's recommended immunization schedule you can reduce their risk of SIDS by as much as 50%. While vaccinations have gotten a bad rap in the past, rest easy knowing that you're doing all you can for your baby.
Source: https://ivaccinate.org/questions/is-there-a-link-between-sids-and-vaccines/
5. Smoking Isn't Just Bad for Your Health
Caption: Smoking isn't just bad for your health. It's bad for your baby's health, too! Smoking during pregnancy and after the birth of your baby can affect their physical development, lung function, and increase their risk for SIDS. And it's not just cigarettes- nicotine from vapes and other smokeless tobacco can be just as harmful. To reduce these risks:
- Stop smoking before getting pregnant, or as early in your pregnancy as you can
- Don't allow smoking in your home, car, or near your baby
- Remove articles of clothing that were worn while smoking to avoid passing on third-hand smoke
- Talk about these dangers with any caregivers who may watch your baby
Source: www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/
secondhand_smoke/health_effects/index.htm
Get help to quit smoking today! https://kansas.quitlogix.org/en-US/
Resources
- SIDS Awareness Month Specific
- SIDS Awareness Month #SafeSleepSnap Digital Toolkit by the National Institute of Health (NIH)
- National Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Awareness Month Social Media Toolkit by the National Institute for Children's Health Quality (NICHQ)
- Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Month Campaign by the Kansas Infant Death and SIDS (KIDS) Network
- Providers and Educators
- Provider Training/Education Events:
- KIDS Network Certified Safe Sleep Instructors (SSIs)
- Safe Sleep Expansion Project - Statewide SSI Strategy
- Zero to One: Disparities in Infant Mortality - by KIDS Network
- PASafeSleep Train-the-Trainer Program - Online Course
- Online Education Opportunities for Healthcare & Service Providers
- KS TRAIN Safe Sleep Training for Child Care and Health Care Providers - Safe Slumber: Creating a Safe Sleep Environment
- Safe Sleep Social Media Parties - 8-15 minute Facebook Live Safe Sleep Education
- Information about SIDS and Safe Sleep:
- Policy Statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
- CDC Vitalsigns | Safe Sleep for Babies - Fact Sheet and Infographic
- Safe Sleep Printable and Shareable Resources for use with Caregivers and Families by NIH
- Parents and Caregivers
- Information about SIDS and Safe Sleep:
- Safe Sleep Information by the KIDS Network
- Kansas Safe Sleep Website
- Information for Parents and Caregivers on SUID and SIDS by Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
- Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) | Symptoms and Causes by the Boston Children's Hospital
- Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) by Stanford Children's Health
- Safe Sleep for Your Baby by March of Dimes
- Back to Sleep, Tummy to Play by healthychildren.org
- Video: ABCs of Safe Sleep
- Video: Safe Sleep for Babies
- Smoking Increases the Risk of SIDS:
- Health Effects of Secondhand Smoke by CDC
- How Smoking Harms Your Child by smokefreewomen.gov
- Breastfeeding to Reduce the Risk of SIDS:
