Healthy Start of Hillsborough strives to reduce infant deaths from unsafe sleep

Bob Simon | Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Each year in the United States, 3,400 babies die suddenly while sleeping, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics. The cause can be suffocation from a pillow or blankets, co-sleeping with a parent or another adult caregiver or getting wedged between a mattress and the side of a crib.

Medical experts have a specific term to describe these deaths: sudden unexpected infant death. In Hillsborough County, it is a heartbreaking and significant community issue that a coalition of local government agencies, hospitals and nonprofits have launched programs and campaigns to address. In 2022, there were 11 sleep-related infant deaths in Hillsborough. That number jumped to 21 in 2023, according to provisional numbers. Already in 2024, there have been five.

Safe Baby, a Healthy Start Coalition of Hillsborough County program funded by the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County, is taking the lead to work on solutions to reduce the county’s infant mortality rate and improve the health of pregnant women in a county with 17,000 births annually.

Safe Baby program serves approximately 3,200 participants annually from 55 different zip codes across the county, says Jessica Reynolds, community outreach manager for the Safe Baby program. The program’s goal is simple but serious- to give parents the training and guidance to keep their babies safe. 

One way to do that is to keep the crib or sleeping area safe. Even the most useful baby products, if left in the wrong place, are a danger to a baby, Reynolds says… to read more, click here.