Fredericksburg Parent

12 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • July 2024 Ask the Expert a sk t h e e x p e rt Preparing to bring a new baby home means making lots of decisions—Which car seat to get? What color to paint the nursery? How many will it take to put the crib together? One of the most important choices you can make to ensure your baby's health and safety during the first year of life is to learn the principles of safe infant sleep, and to make sure anyone who will be caring for or spending time with your baby also understands them. Research-backed recommendations for safe infant sleep are a factor within your control to help prevent accidental death or injury in infants. Every year in the United States, there are approximately 3,500 infant sleep-related deaths due to accidental suffocation, strangulation, or undetermined causes during sleep. Safe sleeping habits play a role in reducing the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), a leading cause of infant mortality in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mary Washington Healthcare Promotes Safe Sleep from Day One Mary Washington Healthcare is committed to promoting safe sleep habits at both Mary Washington and Stafford Hospitals. The healthcare system also educates parents on safe sleep practices for the home, so that parents and caregivers have the knowledge to help infants avoid sleep-related injuries. Mary Washington Hospital and Stafford Hospital have earned certification as Safe Sleep Leaders from Cribs for Kids, a nonprofit dedicated to preventing infant sleep-related deaths. "Safe sleep education at Mary Washington Healthcare starts when mom is admitted to the hospital," said RiDonna Walker, MSN, RNC-MNN, Assistant Nurse Manager for Mother Baby and Pediatrics at Mary Washington Hospital. "Parents can learn about creat- ing a safe environment for their newborn in our new-parent classes before they deliver, but even if they don't take the classes, we are delivering this information when they are under our care. As soon as baby is delivered, we talk to parents about sleep, because the babies are in a crib in the room, and in that crib we just have a fitted sheet—nothing else." Safe sleep habits are reinforced throughout mother and baby's stay in the hospital through hourly check-ins, said Terri Lamprinakos, BSN, RN, NE-BC, Nurse Manager for Labor, Delivery, Recovery, Postpartum & NICU at Stafford Hospital. "Every time we walk in that room, we are checking for safety for mom and baby," she said. "If there's a new stuffed animal from a visitor in the crib, we are taking it out and reminding parents to take it out. It's a constant education until you go home. It might even seem annoying, but it is just so important that we feel very strongly about sending parents home with these safe sleep habits." WRITTEN BY EMILY FREEHLING Safe Sleep Habits are Essential to Infant Health

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