October is Safe Sleep and SIDS Awareness Month. Approximately 3,500 infants die annually in the United States from sleep-related infant deaths, including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) and SIDS disproportionately impact families of color, especially Black, American Indian/Alaskan Native, and low-income families. 

Consistent, integrated messaging about safe infant sleep and breastfeeding is important for all caregivers. Families benefit from full information and opportunities to openly discuss their concerns about safe sleep and breastfeeding recommendations with knowledgeable sources so they can make informed decisions about their caregiving.

Resources, Tools, and Materials

Webinar Spotlight

Safe Infant Sleep Practices: Integrating Breastfeeding & Safe Sleep

This webinar was presented by Stacy Scott, Ph.D., MPA, Senior Project Director, National Institute for Children's Health Quality (NICHQ) and Lorena Kaplan, MPH, CHES, Safe to Sleep® Campaign Lead, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institutes of Health. During this session, we heard about the HRSA/MCHB-funded National Action Partnership to Promote Safe Sleep Improvement and Innovation Network (NAPPSS-IIN) initiative, led by the National Institute for Children's Health Quality (NICHQ).
With a coalition of over 50 national stakeholder organizations, including Federal partners, NAPPSS-IIN is making infant-safe sleep and breastfeeding the national norm by activating systems, supports, and services to work together systematically. Understanding the factors influencing parent and caregiver behaviors will help providers develop risk-reduction strategies in partnership with families. We learned about NICHD's Safe to Sleep® campaign and the #SafeSleepSnap toolkit, launched in October. Individuals and organizations ' active participation in the #SafeSleepSnap photoactivity can help strengthen social norms around safe infant sleep by raising awareness of safe sleep environments and breastfeeding.

Watch the recorded session here.

Combined Breastfeeding and Safe Sleep Messages

This session, presented by Stacy Scott, Ph.D., National Action Partnership to Promote Safe Sleep Improvement and Innovation Network (NAPPSS-IIN), takes a deep dive into what it takes to create this shared national goal of reducing sleep-related infant deaths by looking at challenges and successes from the National Action Partnership to Promote Safe Sleep Improvement and Innovation Network (NAPPSS-IIN), a five-year project funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration Maternal and Child Health Bureau.
 NAPPSS-IIN is working to make safe infant sleep and breastfeeding a national norm by aligning stakeholders across multiple care settings to promote strategies that empower at-risk infant caregivers and families to follow recommended sleep and breastfeeding practices.

​Watch the recorded session here. 
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