Online Training Provides Guidance for Safe Sleep

The collaborative partnership of the Michigan Department of Community Health, Tomorrow's Child, and the Michigan Public Health Institute have created a website intended for pregnant woman, infants, and care-givers informing them of educational strategies and interventions to promote a consistent safe-sleep enviroment.

Development of the course is one of multiple steps state agencies are taking in response to a rise in preventable infant deaths.

Ever year in Michigan, close to 50 infants (or one child a week), dies due to unsafe sleep practices.

Risk factors can be identified as:

* Infants not sleeping in cribs;

* Infants placed to sleep in soft or heavy bedding;

* Infants sharing a sleep surface with one or more persons;and

* Infants not sleeping on their backs.

By making this training readily available, more mothers and families will recieve the consistent messages of keeping their babies safe while sleeping.

The Web-based Safe Sleep Course can be accessed for free by going to:

http://learning.mihealth.org.

For more information, feel free to call,

Debra Darling (517)432-9822 or

Rosemary Fournier (517)335-8416.