An evaluation of factors associated with safe infant sleep practices among perinatal home visiting participants in Florida, United States

Sleep-related deaths are a leading cause of infant mortality in Florida. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends placing infants to sleep on their back, alone, and without soft bedding. Compliance with these guidelines varies among parents. This evaluation examined the rates of safe infant sleep practices and associated factors among 1985 participants enrolled in Florida Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (FL MIECHV) programs during 2017–2019. Participant- and program-level variables were examined in relation to three sleep practices: infant position, bedding, and bed-sharing at 2–3 months to determine which factors were associated with high rates of safe sleep outcomes. Analyses included univariate descriptive statistics, bivariate statistics, and multivariable logistic regression. Most caregivers (70%) reported always placing their babies to sleep on their back, alone, and without soft bedding. Factors such as primary language, race, education, housing situation, and year the Safe Baby™ curriculum implemented were significantly associated with safe infant sleep practices. Bearing this in mind, FL MIECHV can tailor safe sleep education, messaging, and strategies to support participants at highest risk. Recent adoption of the Safe Baby™ curriculum, and associated staff training, was an important factor influencing parents’ infant sleep practices.

Safe Sleep Practices of Kansas Birthing Hospitals

Introduction. Sleep-related death is tied with congenital anomaliesas the leading cause of infant mortality in Kansas, and externalrisk factors are present in 83% of these deaths. Hospitals can impactcaregiver intentions to follow risk-reduction strategies. This projectassessed the current practices and policies of Kansas hospitals withregard to safe sleep. Methods. A cross-sectional survey of existing safe sleep practicesand policies in Kansas hospitals was performed. Hospitals were categorizedbased on reported delivery volume and data were comparedacross hospital sizes. Results. Thirty-one of 73 (42%) contacted hospitals responded. Individualsurvey respondents represented various hospital departmentsincluding newborn/well-baby (68%), neonatal intensive care unit(3%) and other non-nursery departments or administration (29%).Fifty-eight percent of respondents reported staff were trained oninfant safe sleep; 44% of these held trainings annually. High volumehospitals tended to have more annual training than low or mid volumebirth hospitals. Thirty-nine percent reported a safe sleep policy,though most of these (67%) reported never auditing compliance. Thetop barrier to safe sleep education, regardless of delivery volume, wasconflicting patient and family member beliefs. Conclusions. Hospital promotion of infant safe sleep is being conductedin Kansas to varying degrees. High and mid volume birthhospitals may need to work more on formal auditing of safe sleeppractices, while low volume hospitals may need more staff training.Low volume hospitals also may benefit from access to additional caregivereducation materials. Finally, it is important to note hospitalsshould not be solely responsible for safe sleep education.KS J Med 2018;11(1):1-4.