(WASHINGTON, IN – April 21, 2021) — Daviess Community Hospital was recently recognized by the National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification Program as a “Silver Safe Sleep Leader” for their commitment to best practices and education on infant safe sleep.
The National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification Program was created by Cribs for Kids®, the only national infant safe sleep organization. Based in Pittsburgh, PA, Cribs for kids is dedicated to preventing infant sleep-related deaths due to accidental suffocation. As a Nationally Certified Safe Sleep Hospital, Daviess Community Hospital is recognized for following the safe sleep guidelines recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and providing training programs for healthcare team members, and family caregivers.
“Sleep-Related Death (SRD) results in the loss of more than 3,500 infants every year in the U.S.,” said Michael H. Goodstein, M.D., neonatologist and medical director of research at Cribs for Kids®. “We know that modeling safe infant sleep in the hospital and providing education to families has a significant effect on infant mortality. Cribs for Kids Hospital Certification Program is designed to recognize those hospitals that are taking an active role in reducing these preventable deaths.”
In recent years, Daviess County was shown to have the highest infant mortality rate in the state of Indiana (this data is based on an infant’s address of record, not where the infant was born).
Daviess Community Hospital physicians and obstetrics team take an active role in preventing as many infant deaths as possible through education. We focus on the importance of safe sleep starting in the hospital and carry that message to the community health fairs by providing safe sleep education and a safe sleep demonstration. Every baby born at Daviess Community Hospital is sent home with a “sleep sack” so that the family can begin safe sleep practices right away.
The state of Indiana was able to decrease the infant mortality rate from 7.3 in 2017 to 6.8 in 2018 per 1,000 live births. We know that there is still much work to be done, but we are committed to do our part in prevention and education.
The National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification Program was created in partnership with leading infant health and safety organizations such as All Baby & Child, The National Center for the Review & Prevention of Child Deaths, Association of SIDS and Infant Mortality Programs, Kids in Danger, Children’s Safety Network, American SIDS
Institute, Charlie’s Kids, CJ Foundation for SIDS, and numerous state American Academy of Pediatric chapters and health departments.
According to Judith A. Bannon, Executive Director and Founder for Cribs for Kids®, “The certification program launched in 2015 in Pittsburgh, PA, home of the Cribs for Kids® national headquarters. Hundreds of hospitals across the US are certified. We welcome Daviess Community Hospital to this expanding group of committed hospitals. This will have a profound effect on the saving babies’ lives.”
For more information on the Cribs for Kids® National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification program visit https://cribsforkids.org/hospitalcertification/
