Safe infant sleep program aims to combat the almost 30 sudden infant deaths every year

SALT LAKE CITY — Sudden Unexpected Infant Death is the leading cause of death in children under 12 months. The majority of those cases are due to unsafe sleep and could have been prevented.

Utah averages about 27 SUID deaths every year, according to the Utah Department of Health and Human Services Sudden Unexpected Infant Death report. Over the course of 5 years, there were 137 SUID-related deaths from 2019-2023.

"About 93% of them were in an unsafe sleep environment; 99 of the infants were found on soft bedding or had items in their sleep space that we recommend against. Eighty-seven were on a surface not made for sleep. Forty-two were found on their stomach," said Jessica Davidson, Intermountain Neonatal ICU Medical Director, Chair of the Neonatal Committee of Utah Women and Newborn Quality Collaborative.

In an effort to combat this issue, Intermountain Health is starting a Safe Infant Sleep program to educate families and provide prevention resources.

It will offer free safe-sleep consultations at both Primary Children's Lehi and Primary Children's Salt Lake campuses. There will be trained Safe Sleep Ambassadors providing all the generalized safe sleep guidance and personalizing it to each family and their home.

Caregiver wellbeing will also be a pillar of this new program, with the thought process being if parents are well taken care of, they are best suited to make safe decisions for their infants. The program leans on the acronym "BLOOM," which highlights the areas it aims to educate and support.

BLOOM stands for:

Baby sleep safely

Lean on support

Observe safe habits

Own your rest

Mind your wellness

Call 801-662-2277 to access the Safe Infant Sleep program and make an appointment.