>> According to experts at us health Duvall County has one of the highest infant mortality
rates in Florida
between 2014 2018 our
County saw 310 preventable
child deaths for the ages, 0
to 17
nearly 35% were infants who
died in an environment of
unsafe sleep. And this means
more than 2 babies die of
unsafe sleep each month.
So lot a new initiative focused
on safe sleep education kicks
off tomorrow and joining us now
is doctor Randy Alexander who
is a pediatrician from us
health. Thanks so much for
being with us asserting.
All right let’s talk about the
difference between. >> Cigs and suffocation because a lot of people think you know
winning a.
>> Newborn dies, it’s a baby.
Say that it’s it’s but that’s
not the case all the time you
know or understand since is
involved and.
>> Since has a has an exact.
>> A definition you have to be
under year
of age. You have An autopsy
doesn’t show anything you have
to have
you’re medical circumstances
are OK both for that child and
other children
and then someone asked going
environment make sure there
wasn’t anything like
overheating or something
environment what we really see
a
lot of. And us that people
might have thought of 6 years
ago as unsafe sleep. This is
where
child suffocates where they’re
sleeping in an adult bed or
they’re sleeping with adults or
occasionally in a cop couch
where they get trapped between
the adult in the couch.
>> And this is often referred
to as co sleeping, but that
something that you want to get
away from. Yeah and
co sleeping is a little hard to
understand it means that you’re
in the
same room is that closely in
which American Academy of
Pediatrics encourages for the
first 6 months of life but not
in the same bed in your own
separate cribs were pack and
play or something like that.
>> So what is being done to get
the word out about this because
I mean the numbers we talked
about earlier
pretty staggering.
>> Well they are and we’ve been
averaging about 30 to 35 deaths
each year. In Duvall
County alone. We have the
highest rate in the state of
Florida.
Per population. So we might do
something but we’ve had a
coalition of people and in this
part of the state for years
trying to do something but a
new initiatives coming up.
I’m starting tomorrow. For the
rest of the calendar year we’re
going to be it’s reading bags.
2 that have information
unsafe sleep because we don’t
want kids
to suffocate we’re going to
give this out in the 9 birthing
hospitals in Duval County.
2 parent of
every newborn. The entire year
when you have the bag here one
and I do get a look
at that.
>> So this is the bag they get
I guess it’s reusable for other
things. But as you reach
inside. They’ve got this
book on asleep baby. And it
goes through things about just
a nice little book talking
about. When a baby
do we’ve got.
And it has the important abc’s of alone. Maybe sleep alone on their back in a crypt.
And so we reinforce that
message also
have this but I think it’s a
cute little onesie.
>> That is this side up this
idea that they know that
they’re on
their back.
>> Well and sometimes it you
know it can just be an accident
there may not be the intention
of being asleep in bed or
on a sofa because you know
mothers of newborns are
exhausted and they can fall
asleep and this is a good way
to that. But some fear into
them to remind them not to
do that.
>> Well it is and I review of
these this I’m personally and
as I go through my see a few of
those are look like they’re
really accident. But what I
really see sadly enough as more
were someone’s use medicine
whether it’s prescription or
perhaps that use drugs or
something impairs them just
enough. just electrical.
Plugs and then we have this little night life that again has the ABC to it.
>> What a
great idea. Doctor Randy