Healthy Alaska Natives Foundation and Rasmuson Foundation help give ANMC babies a comfortable start to safe sleep
February 17, 2017
Every year, nearly 1,700 babies are born at ANMC. The safety and health of every baby delivered at our hospital is important and we want to provide families who choose to deliver at ANMC with the best resources to ensure the well-being of their child. With help from a generous Rasmuson Foundation grant for ANMC’s Family Birthing Services, ANTHC’s Healthy Alaska Natives Foundation funded 1,700 HALO SleepSack Swaddle wearable blankets for the infants born here in one year.
The HALO SleepSack Swaddle is a warm, snug wearable blanket that is specifically created to help babies sleep safer and more comfortably. The HALO SleepSack Swaddle has an adjustable swaddle wrap feature that immobilizes a baby’s arms and prevents him or her from rolling on to the stomach. The wearable blankets are also designed to keep a baby from overheating. In addition, it replaces loose blankets in the crib that can cover a baby’s face and cause difficulty breathing.
Nearly 3,500 babies die each year in the United States during sleep because of unsafe sleep environments. Some of these deaths are caused by entrapment, suffocation or strangulation and some are caused by sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). In Alaska, a statewide campaign to promote safe sleep for infants and toddlers was spearheaded after more than 50 sleep-related infant deaths occurred between 2012 and 2014. ANMC’s Family Birthing Services will give every baby delivered this year a HALO SleepSack Swaddle to take home with a letter from ANMC and the Healthy Alaska Native Foundation explaining the importance of safe sleep.
To learn more about the Healthy Alaska Natives Foundation and join our efforts to keep all babies safe while they sleep, visit www.inspiringgoodhealth.org. For more resources on a safe sleep environment for your baby, visit www.halosleep.com.