Delaware partners launch Cribs for Kids program
Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children recently announced a new partnership formed to decrease infant mortality in Delaware. The state of Delaware Child Death, Near Death and Stillbirth Commission and the Division of Public Health - Department of Health and Social Services - have joined forces with the duPont Hospital to help reduce the risk of infant injury and death due to unsafe sleep environments by providing education and resources to families.
Through the Cribs for Kids program, cribs will be distributed free of charge to families who cannot otherwise afford one.
Delaware ranks 44th worst in the nation for infant mortality; approximately eight out of 1,000 babies die every year. Reports show most of these babies were not sleeping in an approved infant bed, a fact that contributed to the infants’ deaths.
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Cribs for Kids
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The Cribs for Kids program seeks to accomplish the following:
• Raise funds to sustain the program • Ensure cribs get to families who otherwise would not be able to afford one • Provide educational resources to parents about safe sleeping for their babies |
“As the pediatrician member of the Child Death Review panel for New Castle County, it bothered me every time I heard of an infant dying from unsafe sleeping,” said Dr. Kate Cronin, an emergency room physician at the duPont Hospital for Children.
According to Anne Pedrick, executive director of the state of Delaware Child Death, Near Death and Stillbirth Commission, of the 18 infant deaths reported in 2008 and 2009, all the babies were not in a crib or bassinet.
While deaths from sudden infant death syndrome have decreased over the past few years, preventable infant deaths have increased, due in large part to more and more infants sleeping in inappropriate settings.
Visit cribsforkidsde.org
