FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: May 15 , 2007
Contact: (919) 828-1819
Vivian Muzyk, communications coordinator
Asheville Area Health Professionals Trained in SIDS Risk Reduction
Effort to reduce N.C.'s high infant death rate
(Asheville, NC) - Yesterday, 14 health professionals from Buncombe, Gaston and Henderson counties were trained
in infant safe sleep practices to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). SIDS is the third leading cause of infant mortality in North Carolina, and is the leading cause of death for infants ages 1-12 months.
In 2005, 105 North Carolina babies died suddenly and unexpectedly. According to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, North Carolina’s infant death rate remains higher than the national average.
The North Carolina Healthy Start Foundation, a Raleigh-based nonprofit working to reduce infant mortality and improve the health of women and young children across the state, conducted the free, two-hour training at the Buncombe County Health Center in Asheville. Titled Baby's Easy Safe Sleep Training (BESST), the workshop promotes safe sleep practices based on the American Academy of Pediatrics' recommendations. The workshop addresses everything from proper sleep positioning (placing baby on her back) to crib safety and the link between secondhand smoke and SIDS. The training also teaches the safest way to tuck in a baby at bedtime and warns against bed sharing.
Yesterday's BESST workshop was a "train the trainer" program for local health and childcare professionals including nurses, maternity care coordinators, infant-toddler specialists, Early Head Start specialists and social workers from county health departments, hospitals, and community-based agencies. Marta Pirzadeh, a consultant with the Foundation, conducted the training and offered free BESST educational flipcharts and SIDS materials to participants to help them promote infant safe sleep in their communities.
"The North Carolina Healthy Start Foundation looks forward to the day when no family will suffer a devastating loss from SIDS," says Pirzadeh. "The Baby's Easy Safe Sleep Training and teaching tool was designed as a user-friendly way for professionals to share with their community. Together we hope to reduce the incidence of SIDS across North Carolina."
BESST was developed in 2005 with funding from Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation. Since its inception, more than 150 people have participated in BESST workshops from 80 counties across North Carolina. Other BESST workshops are scheduled across the state. 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.
