Babies need sleep to enhance their quick and complete growth but it also must be the right kind and quality of sleep. Unsafe sleep could lead to the death of their precious little beings. The Milwaukee County medical examiner’s office said Tuesday that more than half of all infant deaths in Milwaukee County last year were related to an unsafe sleep environment.
This new year alone, a 7-week-old baby girl was found dead inside a home in the city’s northwest side around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday. The Milwaukee police say co-sleeping may have been a factor that led to the baby’s death. The barely two-month-old baby’s death may have encouraged Milwaukee to release data on sleep-related deaths of babies.
The medical examiner’s office investigated 45 cases of infants’ deaths last year and found out that 25 of such deaths were related to unsafe sleep environment.
The risks of sleep-related deaths for babies typically include bed-sharing, unsafe sleep surfaces, body placement, alcohol and drug use, and smoking.
For safer sleep for babies, experts say the rules are as easy as ABC’s: Babies should sleep Alone, on their Backs, in a Crib uncluttered by blankets, pillows, or toys, and without exposure to the dangerous cigarette smoke.
Studies have shown, too, that such infant-related deaths are not only happening in urban areas but are also being reported in suburban and rural counties.
The leading cause of babies’ deaths remains preterm birth with its complex biological, social and economic problems.
Officials are hoping that since so many of the factors in sleep-related deaths of infants are actually within the control of caregivers and or the parents, that they would be educated and enlightened to avoid as much as they can the risks involved in sleep-related infants’ deaths.
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