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4/19/13 blog post

reducing infant deaths starts with me

Not long ago a close friend lost her infant daughter due to positional asphyxia. Positional asphyxia occurs when an infant sleeps/placed in an unsafe position causing insufficient intake of oxygen while breathing resulting in infant death. It was a normal day, my friend kissed the children goodbye that morning and left for work. Their father started his day, fixed breakfast for children, laid the baby in her crib, on her side and went to take a shower. When he finished his shower he went to check on the baby and found her blue and unresponsive. Despite their best efforts – their angel was gone.

I’ll never forget the funeral, my friend’s words pierced me. She stated “I don’t understand – the nurses placed her on her side with a blanket rolled behind her back.”

It was devastating to hear and an eye opener that as a nurse in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit at Dayton Children’s I have the obligation to lead by example. That’s why it will start with me, I’m making it my mission to educate nurses, physicians, family and friends on safe sleep practices so that more babies can celebrate their 1st birthday. I hope you will join me!

The message is simple – Remember the ABC’s of Safe Sleep! Babies should sleep Alone, on the Back and in a Crib. Let’s keep these babies safe!

Guest Blogger Tiffany Johnson
Tiffany Johnson, RN, has been a Neonatal Intensive Care Nurse for 7 years and has been a labor and delivery nurse fo 5 years. She lives in Springfield, Ohio with her husband and six children.