Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) recently introduced a bill designed to prevent Sudden Unexpected Infant Death by enhancing provider training in sleep practices, first aid and CPR in the Child Care Development Block Grant.
The Centers for Disease Control reports that 4,000 infants every year suffer from SUID. It is the leading cause of fatalities for newborns one-year-old or less. Additionally, 629 SUID deaths in 2010 were caused by unintentional suffocation and strangulation in bed.
Collin’s legislation, the Child Care Infant Mortality Prevention Act, aims to eliminate needless SUID deaths by helping states improve the overall quality of childcare services.
The bill would require the Health and Human Services Department to update and to make public certain materials, including training and instruction manuals, prevention methods and other types of information on safe sleep practices. Collins said it would also promote the dissemination of health guidelines and trainings proposed by the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics intended to reduce the risk of SUID.
“Simple steps can and must be taken to reduce the terrifying and largely preventable tragedy of sudden infant deaths,” Collins said. “This bill puts the health and safety of infants at the forefront of child care by ensuring that basic strategies to enhance child safety are adopted and followed by the public and in the child care industry.”