A unique program to teach new parents about safe sleep for baby is reaching approximately one in three newborns in the U.S. The HALO® Safer Way to Sleep® program, developed by a dad who lost his firstborn to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), is found in about 1000 hospitals around the country where parents learn about safe sleep for baby by modeling the techniques used by hospital staff.
Today over 5000 babies die annually from SIDS and accidental suffocation, and many deaths can be avoided through better education. The HALO® Safer Way to Sleep® program is designed to help parents learn how to create a safe sleep environment at home, and the teaching starts in the hospital immediately after giving birth.
Since many will agree that becoming a new parent can be overwhelming at first, hospitals participating in the HALO program are teaching safe sleep by literally demonstrating it on the newborn. In some hospitals, the HALO® SleepSack® Swaddle or SleepSack® wearable blanket is used in the nursery and in the neo-natal ICU’s instead of a blanket. Qualified hospitals receive the garments at no cost along with educational kits for childbirth educators and nurses. Other safe sleep programs provide a new HALO® garment for the baby as a gift from the hospital to encourage parents to practice safe sleep at home.
“HALO Innovations is pleased to partner with hundreds of hospitals throughout the U.S. to provide a product that keeps sleeping babies safe, gives parents peace of mind and makes safe swaddling of newborns easier,” said Bill Schmid, founder of HALO Innovations. “Our mission is to significantly decrease the number of babies lost to unsafe sleep practices each year, and we believe our HALO SleepSack wearable blankets along with education to model safe sleep are helping fight this battle.” Mr. Schmid created the Halo SleepSack wearable blanket after he lost his daughter to SIDS.
This program is in keeping with the American Academy of Pediatrics’ revised safe sleep guidelines for infants to suggest the use of wearable blankets instead of loose blankets as a way to help reduce the risk of accidental suffocation.
For over 15 years HALO has been educating parents in a variety of ways about safe sleep practices and supporting non-profit organizations like First Candle/SIDS Alliance and the Canadian Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths. Today over 1000 hospitals around the country, including some of the leading birthing hospitals in the U.S., are currently using HALO SleepSack wearable blankets in their neonatal units or nurseries, gifting them to new moms or selling the product in hospital gift shops.
For additional information on safe sleep for babies, visit www.halosleep.com.
Disclosure:
The information on this post is a press release provided by the company or PR representative. I have not written the statements expressed here.
