FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: March 6, 2007
Contact:
Vivian Muzyk
(919) 828-1819
N.C. Healthy Start Foundation Offers Free Baby Safe Sleep Tool
Effort to reduce the risk of SIDS and infant deaths in sleep environments
(Raleigh, NC) - In response to the growing need for public awareness about infant safe sleep, the North Carolina Healthy Start Foundation announces the Baby's Easy Safe Sleep Training (BESST) and toolkit. Based on the American Academy of Pediatrics' recommendations, the toolkit teaches families, caregivers and health professionals how to create a safe sleep environment and position a baby to reduce the risks of infant death. The kit, which features an educational flip chart and training guide, is free to state agencies, hospitals, schools and community organizations that attend the Foundation's BESST training. In addition, toolkits can be purchased, without a training, from the Foundation’s Web site.
North Carolina has a growing number of accidental infant deaths associated with the sleep environment. Between 2001 and 2005, 79 North Carolina infants died from accidental suffocation and strangulation in beds due to bed linens, pillows or bed sharing according to the State Center for Health Statistics. Unsafe sleep environments also put babies at risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). In 2005, 105 SIDS deaths occurred in North Carolina. The public need for safe sleep awareness is so great that the N.C. Child Fatality Task Force recently requested a recurring $300,000 state appropriation for a statewide infant safe sleep and SIDS risk reduction campaign.
"A safe sleep environment is critical to reducing the risks of infant deaths from accidental suffocation and strangulation, roll-over deaths, and SIDS," says Christine O'Meara, the N.C. Back to Sleep Campaign Coordinator with the North Carolina Healthy Start Foundation. O'Meara was essential in developing the Infant/Toddler Safe Sleep and SIDS Risk Reduction in Child Care
(ITS-SIDS) Training that is now mandatory for licensed childcare providers across the state. "Childcare providers identified a need for a parent-friendly, educational tool," says O'Meara. "Their suggestions helped give birth to the BESST toolkit and training."
BESST was developed in 2005 with funding from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation and the C.J. Foundation for SIDS. The two-hour training addresses everything from proper sleep positioning (placing baby on her back) to what to look for in a safe crib, room temperature and the link between secondhand smoke and SIDS. BESST also teaches the safest way to tuck in a baby and cautions against bed sharing.
The BESST toolkit, also available in Spanish, was created to supplement the training. BESST toolkits can be purchased on the Foundation's website, www.NCHealthyStart.org, for $100, including shipping.
For additional information about infant sleep safety and SIDS, visit the Foundation's website or call the NC Family Health Resource Line at 1-800-367-2229 or 1-800-FOR-BABY.
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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.
