Free cribs being offered to TEEN Center clients

Mobile, Alabama – Nearly 50 portable cribs have been given to qualifying clients of the Mobile Health Department’s TEEN Center in recent months, said Tony Bondora, who coordinates the Alabama Baby Coalition. A grant from the Children’s Trust Fund allowed the Fetal Infant Mortality Review program to provide the safe sleeping environments to young parents after completing a mandatory safety class.

Health Department officials recently learned they will receive another 50 portable cribs from the Children’s Trust Fund to distribute to TEEN Center clients who complete the classes, health officials said.

“Young moms sit through an hour infant safety class,” Bondora said.  “We show them how to assemble the cribs and take them down and teach them the proper ways to put their baby to sleep.”

Bondora’s job is to research the deaths of Mobile County children between birth and their first birthday, as well as the fetal deaths that occur beyond 20 weeks of gestation. He also attends community outreach events, working to spread the word about keeping babies safe while they sleep.

In 2011, 44 infants died in Mobile County before their first birthday. That was up slightly from 2010 when 43 infants died. While the rate of deaths among infants remained roughly the same, Bondora noticed a trend in his research: “We had a decrease in sleep-related deaths last year,” he said. “It was about 23 percent in 2010 and in 2011 it was 18 percent.”

Sleep-related deaths include suffocation, roll-over deaths caused when a parent or another child rolls on top of an infant, sudden unexplained death in infancy, also known as SUDI, and improper sleep position.
Infants should sleep in the parent’s room in their own bed or crib, completely alone with no pillows, blankets or stuffed animals, health officials said.

A good alternative to bed sharing is to place the infant’s crib or cradle near the parent’s or caregiver’s bed to allow for more convenient contact.

A new addition to Bondora’s classes has been to include information about a safe sleep environment for every infant and child in a home.  “We talk about the crib itself,” he said, “making sure the crib is uncluttered, making sure there is no cigarette or cigar smoke in the room, making sure the baby is not overheated.”

Bondora also goes over other vital details about keeping babies safe while sleeping. Health providers recommend that children younger than 12 months old sleep in a bed or crib alone with no other children, adults or pets. There should be no pillows, blankets or padded baby bumpers inside cribs. If a sheet or blanket is used, he said, it should be tightly tucked on three sides so there is no chance the baby can pull the fabric over his or her mouth and nose to restrict breathing.

“The basic point,” Bondora said, “is you want to try to control as many of those variables as you can so you don’t have something over the baby’s airway.”

Last week, Bondora attended Babypalooza, a baby expo in downtown Mobile, where he handed out 400 T-shirts featuring safe sleep positions among other messages. He also administered 400 safety quizzes. He hopes the real-time research will provide him with a better understanding of where the community is in terms of knowledge about safe sleep for infants and young children.

Bondora, who also coordinates the Alabama Baby Coalition, urges parents and caregivers to follow the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation that all infants less than 12 months old should be placed on their backs every time they are put down for sleep, whether for napping or at night.

It’s also critical that parents make sure babysitters and caregivers know to place infants on their backs to sleep. Research shows that infants placed on their stomachs who are accustomed to sleeping on their backs are at greater risk of dying, Bondora said.

Other risk factors for infant death include cigarette smoke, shaking a baby and improper car seat use. The Alabama Baby Coalition is working to make Mobile a safer place to be a baby by partnering with local hospitals, medical and social services providers. For more information about the coalition, call 251-694-5007 or visit www.alabamababycoalition.org. 

The Alabama Baby Coalition will present a conference on Sept. 27 at the American Red Cross headquarters on Sage Avenue in Mobile. Typically, nurses, physicians and health care administrators attend the event that offers continuing education hours.

“The overarching message is preventing and controlling infant mortality,” Bondora said. The state group is working this year on a collaborative improvement and innovation network to reduce infant deaths. To do that, the group will focus on three main areas: obesity among mothers, pre-term births and safe sleep habits.