UnitedHealth Foundation gives $50,000 to city’s Cribs for Kids program

Feb. 9, 2012 10:30 a.m.

A $50,000 grant from the UnitedHealth Foundation to the city of Milwaukee’s Cribs for Kids program over the next year will help the city provide free portable cribs to families that cannot afford them, and help raise awareness of safe sleep practices.

The grant is to be announced during a 10:30 a.m. press conference at the Northwest Health Center, 7630 W. Mill Road, one of three locations where referrals, education and distribution of the portable cribs are administered.

The Cribs for Kids program provides families with portable Pack ‘n Play cribs to help reduce deaths due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and unsafe sleep. Pack ‘n Plays are provided to families who are unable to purchase one, and who are in their last four weeks of pregnancy or who have an infant under six months of age.

Pack ‘n Plays are used because they are portable. Before a family is given a Pack ‘n Play, Cribs for Kids provides education and training on proper sleep position and sleep environment for the baby.

To participate in the Cribs for Kids program in Milwaukee, a Medicaid-eligible parent can make an appointment at any one of the three Milwaukee Health Department Safe Sleep Clinics located throughout the city. Each appointment lasts about an hour. During that time, the parent learns about safe sleep practices and is given a demonstration of how to set up and take down the Pack ‘n Play.  To contact the Cribs for Kids Program by phone, call (414)286-8620.

Milwaukee Health Department’s Cribs for Kids program started in 2009 and continues to grow each year, giving out 400 cribs in 2009 and almost 1000 cribs each year in 2010 and 2011.  Mayor Tom Barrett and City Health Commissioner Bevan Baker are to be joined at the press conference by Jeff Nohl, president of UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Wisconsin, and Bruce Weiss, market medical director for UnitedHealthcare of Wisconsin.

Original Article:  JSOnline (Milwaukee Journal Sentinal)
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/138972819.html

Co-Sleeping Baby Death Case: Court Upholds Charges

Huffington Post – 01/ 8/12 07:24 PM ET

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Court of Appeals has refused to dismiss charges against a couple accused of killing their baby in 2006 by sleeping with him – their second child to die in bed with them.

The appeals judges sided with a lower court in a pair of opinions released Friday concerning the death of 3-month-old Kayson Merrill. The infant died while in bed between his father, Trevor Merrill, and mother, Echo Nielsen, both 28, of South Jordan.

The parents, whose first child also died while sleeping with them in 2003, have been charged with child-abuse homicide and reckless endangerment. They have pleaded not guilty.

Defense attorneys argued there wasn’t enough certainty to go to trial after the medical examiner also cited illness and low birth weight in his report.

Renew Effort to Prevent Stillbirths & Sudden Unexplained Infant Deaths

Media Advisory: Senator Lautenberg, Congressman Pallone Renew Effort to Prevent Stillbirths & Sudden Unexplained Infant DeathsFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 10, 2011

Washington, D.C – Senator Frank Lautenberg and Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. in an effort to raise awareness about stillbirth and Sudden Unexplained Infant Deaths, both urgent public health concerns, Monday will renew efforts to prevent these deaths through research and raising awareness in parents and doctors. There are more than 4,600 Sudden Unexplained Infant Deaths each year and another 200 children between the ages 1 and 4 die without any obvious cause. Additional tragedies could be prevented if there were a better understanding of the deaths.

Observer Series on Infant Deaths Wins Medal

‘Cradle of Secrets’ probed cases reported as SIDS.

Read Original Article at Charlotte Reporter:   http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/10/20/2706650/observer-series-on-infant-deaths.html#ixzz1cOMV3K7I

KOHL’s Expand Infant Safe Sleep Program

October 14, 2011 – USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital, KOHL’s Department Store Expand KOHL’s Infant Safe Sleep Program

Kohl’s Cares presented USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital with a check for $110,612 to expand the Kohl’s Infant Safe Sleep, or KISS, program at the hospital.  From left are Owen Bailey, USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital administrator, Veronica Hudson, nurse manager of the hospital’s Mother/Baby unit, and Angela Howard, executive assistant general manager of Kohl’s Department Store.

Kohl’s Department Store, through the Kohl’s Cares cause merchandise program, has announced a grant of $110,612 to USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital to renew and expand a safe sleeping program for infants.  The program is called KISS, which stands for Kohl’s Infant Safe Sleep.   Since starting the KISS program four years ago, Kohl’s Department Stores – through the Kohl’s Cares cause merchandise program – has provided USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital $278,949 in support.  The funds are used to purchase educational materials for parents and other caregivers, promote infant safe sleeping habits in the community and provide free cribs to qualifying families.

The Kohl’s Cribs for Kids initiative last year distributed 110 Pack ‘n Play portable cribs to qualifying Mobile County families.  The cribs can play a key role in reducing deaths due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, and unsafe sleep.  Last year, 43 infants died in Mobile County before their first birthday, a figure that has remained constant since 2008.  Preliminary data shows 11 of the deaths were sleep-related, one less than a year ago.

“We are thrilled that Kohl’s has decided to support Kohl’s Cribs for Kids once again,” Nicole Smith, RN, quality assurance director with MOM Care at USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital, said.  “As the infant mortality figures for Mobile County show, there is much work to be done to create a safer environment for babies.”

USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital, through MOM Care – Mobile’s Medicaid Maternity Program – provides education and training for qualifying families on proper sleep position and sleep environment for the baby.  When a qualifying family completes the program, they receive a free Pack ‘n Play.  The cribs are portable and can be taken wherever the baby receives care.

AAP New Safe Sleep Guidelines

AAP’s New SIDS Stoppers: Cleared Cribs, No Cosleeping

By: By MICHELE G. SULLIVAN, Family Practice News Digital Network

Babies Sleeping With Adults at Greater Risk of Death: Study

Submitted by Nimisha Sachdev on Tue, 10/04/2011 – 08:54

The study, which is indeed one of the most atypical and groundbreaking studies ever conducted by Australian researchers, revealed that out of 72 infant deaths identified during 2008 and 2010, as many as 33 were caused when babies shared the sleeping surface with an adult.

The sleeping surface counted sofas, armchairs, beds, mattresses, etc. In addition, the study also highlighted that 28 out of the 33 confirmed cases were diagnosed to be SIDS incidents.

Based on their findings, the researchers advised that till the time some elaborated research is conducted in the said arena, parents should avoid or at least limit ”co-sleeping”, as it is likely allied to increased threat of newborn death. And hence, babies should be provided separate sleeping surface, though rooms may be shared by his or her parents.

The process is highly advisable to be followed during first four months, as the study found that in Victoria, the count of co-sleeping baby deaths spiked from seven in 2008 to 15 last year.

Direct link to original article:  http://www.frenchtribune.com/teneur/117531-babies-sleeping-adults-greater-risk-death-study

CDC’s Sudden Unexpected Infant Death Initiative

Since 1998, it appears that  medical examiners and coroners are moving away from classifying deaths as SIDS  and calling more deaths accidental suffocation or unknown cause, suggesting  that diagnostic and reporting practices have changed. Inconsistent practices in  investigation and cause-of-death determination hamper the ability to monitor  national trends, ascertain risk factors, and design and evaluate programs to  prevent these deaths.

As a response, CDC’s Division of Reproductive  Health’s (DRH) began the Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID) Initiative. CDC  and its partners began activities aimed at improving the investigation and  reporting practices of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and other SUID.

The CDC’s research on SUID  and SIDS focuses on efforts to standardize and improve data collected at infant  death scenes and to promote consistent classification and reporting of cause  and manner of death for SUID cases. By  improving national reporting of SUID, we aim to prevent SUIDs by using improved  data to monitor trends and identify those at risk.

SUID Initiative Goals and Activities

The goals of the SUID  Initiative are to—

1. Standardize and improve data collected  at death scene.
2. Promote consistent classification and  reporting of cause of death.
3. Improve national reporting of SUID.
4. Reduce SUID by using improved data to  identify those at risk.

To accomplish these  objectives, the CDC SUID Initiative collaborated with a number of organizations  to—

1. Revise the 1996 Sudden Unexplained Infant Death Investigation  Reporting Form (SUIDIRF).
2. Develop a training curriculum and materials for investigators of  infant deaths.
3. Train medicolegal professionals and child advocates to conduct  comprehensive infant death investigations.
4. Develop and implement a state-based SUID  Case Registry.

Sudden Unexplained Infant Death Investigation Reporting Form

In 2003, CDC led activities aimed at revising  the 1996 Sudden Unexplained Infant Death Investigation Reporting Form and Guidelines for the scene investigation, as well as actively educating and disseminating training materials on infant  death scene investigations.

In March 2006, a revised reporting form known as  the SUIDIRF was  released. Along with the revised SUIDIRF, the CDC and partners developed  training materials and conducted train-the-trainer regional academies for  medical examiners, coroners, investigators, and child advocates across the United States.

……Proposal to Ban Sale of Crib Bumper Pads in MD

Department of Health & Mental Hygiene News Release

Baltimore, MD (September 27, 2011) – The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene today announced that it will publish for public comment a proposal to ban the sale of crib bumper pads for infants starting in January 2013.  The Department also released a document summarizing the evidence and providing the basis for its action. The proposed ban is part of a broader effort to promote safe sleep for infants by encouraging the ABCs: Babies should sleep Alone, on their Backs, and in a Crib.

The proposal follows a public input and review process.  As part of this process, a panel of health experts, after reviewing available data, evidence and public comments and holding two public meetings, concluded that the risks associated with the use of crib bumper pads in infant cribs outweigh potential benefits.

“Our priority is the health of infants in Maryland,” said Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, Secretary of DHMH. “We agree with our expert advisors that based on all available evidence, these products pose an unnecessary risk to infants.”

UI researchers help make SIDS breakthrough