Safe Sleep Awareness Campaign for Babies Launched

A coalition of Santa Clara County agencies today launched a campaign to educate parents about unsafe and sometimes deadly sleeping practices for infants.

The "Safe Sleep Awareness Campaign" was announced at a news conference in San Jose this morning attended by representatives from First 5 Santa Clara County and the Santa Clara County medical examiner's office.

One woman shared her story about the loss of her 3-month-old son, Cash. Karma King, 33, of Santa Clara, said she put her baby to sleep next to her in bed early the morning of Nov. 20, 2010, and woke up to find him not breathing.

Doctors could not identify Cash's cause of death, but King said he was a healthy baby.

"You just don't know," she said. "It could happen to anyone."

Examples of unsafe sleeping practices include sharing a bed with an infant or cluttering the baby's sleeping space with items such as toys, blankets or pillows, county deputy health officer Dr. Louis Girling said.

Such conditions have caused three infants deaths in the county this year and 41 in the past six years, according to the health department.

The campaign will stress the message that the safest way for a baby to sleep is alone on his or her back, in a crib or bassinet.

That message will be spread over the next six months via ads in shopping malls and on buses and by public service announcements broadcast on the radio.

First 5, an organization focused on the healthy development of children during their first five years, will donate "onesies" containing safe-sleep messages to hospitals with maternity centers for distribution to new parents.

—By Khalida Sarwari, Bay City News Service