National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification Program recognizes The Children’s Home of Pittsburgh as a Gold Safe Sleep Champion
The Children’s Home of Pittsburgh & Lemieux Family Center, an independent non-profit organization, that works to promote the health and well-being of infants and children, has attained the National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification Program’s highest designation, Gold Sleep Safe Champion.
In the United States, there are approximately 3,500 infant sleep-related deaths due to accidental suffocation, strangulation, or undetermined causes during sleep. By achieving the highest certification level, The Children’s Home has committed to reduce infant sleep related deaths by establishing a hospital infant safe sleep policy, modeling infant safe sleep through the hospital, and partnering with Cribs for Kids®.
Since 1998, Cribs for Kids has been making an impact on the rates of babies dying of accidental sleep related death in unsafe sleeping environments by educating parents and caregivers on the importance of practicing safe sleep for infants. In addition to partnering with Cribs for Kids, The Children’s Home was recognized for following the safe sleep guidelines recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and providing training programs for parents, staff, and the community.
“In order to impact and reduce the number of sleep-related infant deaths in our community it is critical to provide a consistent and repetitive message about infant sleep safety,” said The Children’s Home’s Clinical Director, Erin Colvin. “The Children’s Home of Pittsburgh is the ideal setting to begin the message of safe sleep for infants.”
In March, The Children’s Home started implementing the HALO® Safer Way to Sleep Initiative, which benefits approximately 200 patients served in the Pediatric Specialty Hospital. Infant patients may no longer sleep with traditional blankets or other loose bedding in the crib, as these items can wrap around the infant and/or their medical devices, thereby leading to an unsafe sleep environment. Because of this, The Children’s Home has introduced HALO® SleepSack® wearable blankets in the Pediatric Specialty Hospital to help newborns sleep safer. In order to encourage families to use safe sleep behaviors for infants at home, the Pediatric Specialty Hospital also sends each infant’s family home with their own sleep sack so that they can successfully model this safe sleep behavior in order to decrease the risk of SIDS and accidental suffocation.
The Children’s Home of Pittsburgh & Lemieux Family Center
The Children's Home of Pittsburgh, established in 1893, is an independent, non-profit licensed organization that promotes the health and well-being of infants and children through services which establish and strengthen the family. These programs include: Adoption – providing domestic infant adoption, SWAN permanency services, and a range of support services, Child’s Way® — a pediatric extended care center serving medically fragile infants and children from birth to age 21, and a 30-bed Pediatric Specialty Hospital — offering a transitional setting between hospital and home for infants, children, and their families. For more information, please call 412-441-4884 or visit www.childrenshomepgh.org <http://www.childrenshomepgh.org> .
