Safe Sleep Month Highlights the Importance of Initiatives and Grant-Funded Efforts to Reduce Infant Mortality
Type: News
Focus Area: Women’s Health
October is National Safe Sleep Month, an important time for healthcare professionals and perinatal advocates to renew efforts to promote safe sleep practices for infants. In Pennsylvania, sleep-related deaths—including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and accidental suffocation—remain a significant public health concern. The Commonwealth faces pronounced racial disparities, with Black infants dying at more than twice the rate of white infants from sudden unexpected infant deaths (SUID).
Each year, approximately 3,500 infants in the U.S. die from sleep-related causes. In Pennsylvania, 314 infant deaths were reviewed in 2020, with nearly 19% classified as SUID. Alarmingly, 61% of these deaths occurred when infants were placed in unsafe sleep environments, often in adult beds, despite many families having access to safer options.
To address these challenges, the Pennsylvania Perinatal Quality Collaborative (PA PQC) launched the Safe Sleep initiative in 2023. The initiative brings together 23 experts from 15 organizations to reduce sleep-related fatalities through collaboration between health systems, hospitals, and community partners. Currently, 62 of Pennsylvania’s 76 birth hospitals and NICUs are participating in the initiative for the April 2024-March 2025 implementation period.
Key recommendations from the initiative include standardizing education and training for healthcare professionals, removing barriers to safe sleep practices, providing culturally responsive support to caregivers, and reducing economic challenges by supplying families with resources such as cribs and bedding.
In July 2024, the Jewish Healthcare Foundation awarded a $20,000 grant to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. The hospital will develop processes for transitioning infants to safe sleep practices, educate staff, provide sleep sacks to families, and offer community outreach programs to promote safe sleep habits JHF is operating as the fiscal agent for federal Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Funds provided through the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services to address maternal health needs. The funding for the project is from the contingency budget of the Maternal Health Fund, focusing on reducing racial disparities in SUID rates, with an emphasis on NICU patients.
Other PA PQC connected organizations across Pennsylvania are reaffirming their commitment to ensuring every infant has access to a safe sleep environment. For more information, visit the PA PQC Safe Sleep initiative page.