Problem Statement
The District of Columbia Child Fatality Review Committee (CFRC) - Infant Mortality Review Team (IMRT) continues to review cases where unsafe sleep environments are a contributing factor in the cause of death of infants primarily under the age of 6 months. These deaths are further associated with complications of prematurity as it is the second leading cause of death for District infants and is more common among women who have late or no prenatal care. In almost all of these types of cases, the IMRT has observed that these deaths could have been prevented.
DC Safe Sleep Education & Outreach Project
The goals of the DC Safe Sleep Education & Outreach Project are to provide a series of focused sleep-related events to decrease the number of sleep-related deaths occurring in the District of Columbia. In addition, the project will include a safe sleep campaign that will utilize an innovative telecommunication strategy to provide effective health and safe sleep education and promotion reminders to pregnant and primary care takers of newborns.
Funding for this work comes from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, which leads the Safe to Sleep® campaign: https://safetosleep.nichd.nih.gov