Sudden, unexpected infant death during sleep is one of the leading causes of postnatal death among infants under one year of age in Canada.
Support from health-care providers makes a difference in parent/caregiver decisions about sleep position and sleep environment. As a health-care provider, you have the opportunity to share safer infant sleep messages with parents/caregivers to help reduce the risk of sudden, unexpected infant death during sleep.
The Safer Infant Sleep practice resource for health-care professionals provides current, evidence-based information and key messages on infant safer sleep practices with the intent of reducing the rate of sudden, unexpected infant death during sleep in BC.
Within this practice resource there is an Infant Sleep Discussion Guide which helps to inform shared decision-making conversations with parents/caregivers on safer sleep options for infants using a family centred, trauma-informed and culturally safe approach.
Safer Infant Sleep covers the following topics:
- Safer sleep principles
- Bedsharing
- Breastfeeding as a protective factor
- Emerging evidence
- Alternative safe sleep surfaces
- Daytime sleeping
- Products not recommended for safe sleep
- Multiples
- Swaddling
- Considerations for Indigenous families
- Healthy sleep development for infants
- Infant sleep discussion guide
The Safer Infant Sleep practice resource replaces
Safer Infant Sleep practice toolkit (2016) as well as the
Safe Sleep Environment Guidelines for Infants 0-12 months of age (2011). For a snapshot of what has been added and what has changed, review the
summary of changes.
Not to worry here, is the recording:
Safer Sleep for my Baby is a HealthLinkBC and Perinatal Services BC resource to help parents and caregivers make their baby's sleep environment as safe as possible - so that every sleep is a safer sleep. The resource is available in multiple languages, visit HealthLinkBC for more information. This resource will be reviewed and revised in the near future.
