For a few days this week, commuters driving past the Lowry Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis will see its lights colored blue, light blue and pink in honor of Infant Safe Sleep Week, an initiative to encourage safe sleep practices for infants.
The Nov. 5-11 initiative seeks to lower the rate of sudden infant death syndrome — or SIDS — through educating new parents on the basics of safe sleep practices and pushing hospitals to become safe-sleep certified.
According to data released Wednesday from the Minnesota Department of Health, unsafe sleeping environments contribute to almost all sudden infant deaths. According to a page on Mayo Clinic’s website, SIDS is commonly thought to have no explanation, but data from 2015 found that 53 of the 54 sudden infant deaths in Minnesota involved unsafe sleeping conditions.
“We looked for how often there were unsafe sleep practices involved,” said Susan Castellano, MDH’s maternal and child health director. “It’s a new way of looking at and demonstrating safe sleep practices.”
Additionally, about 9 percent of new mothers report that health care providers did not educate them on how to lay their baby down to sleep, according to data from the Minnesota Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System.
MDH is promoting the “ABCs” of infant safe sleep to educate parents. This stands for Alone, Back and Crib. Babies should always sleep alone, be put on their backs to sleep, and sleep in their own safety-approved crib, Castellano said.
Another part of the initiative is encouraging hospitals to achieve a National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification. Castellano said St. Luke’s in Duluth is the only hospital in Minnesota to receive the certification.
“There are several hospitals that are working towards that certification,” she said. “It’s really just about changing practice.”
She added that the rate of sudden death in infants born to African-American and American Indian mothers is twice that of babies born to white mothers.
“We’re working on reducing those disparities,” Castellano said.
