FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: November 7, 2007
Contact:
Vivian Muzyk
(919) 828-1819
African American Nurses Raise SIDS Awareness
Central Carolina Black Nurses' Council trained in ways to reduce risks of SIDS
(Durham, NC) – In honor of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Awareness Month in October,
17 members of the Central Carolina Black Nurses' Council learned ways to promote baby safe sleep to reduce the risks of SIDS in their community on Saturday, October 20
at the Lincoln Community Health Center in Durham.
SIDS is the unexplained death of a baby less than one year old. It is the leading cause of death for North Carolina infants 1-12 months of age. African American babies die from SIDS at more than twice the rate of Caucasian babies.
Babies who sleep on their backs are less likely to die from SIDS than babies who sleep on their stomachs. A lower percentage of African American mothers reported placing their infants to sleep on their backs compared to Caucasian and Hispanic mothers, according to NC State Center for Health Statistics. Worse yet, since 2003 there has been a downward trend in the percentage of African American mothers who reported placing their babies on their backs to sleep.
To address this health disparity, the Central Carolina Black Nurses’ Council, a nonprofit comprised of African American registered nurses, licensed vocational/practical nurses, and nursing students, took part in a two-hour workshop titled Baby’s Easy Safe Sleep Training (BESST). Created by the North Carolina Healthy Start Foundation, BESST teaches health professionals how to promote baby safe sleep practices to families and caregivers. Based on the American Academy of Pediatrics’ guidelines, BESST promotes the "back to sleep" position, teaches how to choose a safe crib, addresses the link between secondhand smoke and SIDS, and warns parents against sharing their beds with their babies.
Sharon D. Ware, RN, Ed. D., a member of the Central Carolina Black Nurses' Council, conducted the training. Participants included council members as well as nursing faculty from North Carolina Central University and members of Chi Eta Phi, a Black nursing sorority. Participants included nurses from Durham, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Apex, Pittsboro and Charlotte.
"We are thrilled to partner with the Central Carolina Black Nurses’ Council to raise SIDS awareness," says Janice Freedmen, Executive Director of the North Carolina Healthy Start Foundation. "Involving council members, nursing school faculty and members of the black nurses' sorority truly strengthens our combined abilities to help reach African American moms, dads, grandparents and other caregivers about the importance of providing safe sleep for babies."
The North Carolina Healthy Start Foundation in partnership with the CJ Foundation for SIDS donated BESST materials to participants so they could carry on safe sleep education. More information can be found at www.NCHealthyStart.org.
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The N.C. Healthy Start Foundation, a
nonprofit organization established in 1990, conducts
ongoing public education campaigns, advises state and
local policy makers, and provides technical assistance
and professional training focused on reducing infant
death and illness and improving the health of women
and young children in N.C.
