Healthy Living: The dangers of co-sleeping
Thirty years after Linda Price lost her young son, Rashod, her story is being used to help others. It's part of a unique campaign to provide new parents in the Rochester area with life-saving information. Casey Bortnick reports.
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It's a tragic story, any parent's worst nightmare.
"She got up in the morning and left the bedroom and came back in to her husband screaming because the baby was unresponsive," said Sue VanStrydonck, Baby Safe Sleeping Coalition.
Thirty years after Linda Price lost her young son, Rashod, her story is being used to help others. It's part of a unique campaign to provide new parents in the Rochester area with life-saving information. This year, 11,000 educational pamphlets will be mailed out with each birth certificate issued in Monroe County.
"Most babies will if, you know, rocked or held or taken into bed with the parents may fall asleep but you're just running such a terrible risk of the baby never waking up," said Dr. Joanne Cordaro, Baby Safe Sleep Coalition.
Recent studies show half of all cases of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome are connected to co-sleeping. Dr. Joanne Cordaro says moving away from terms like SIDS sends an important message.
"In all the cases that would have been labeled SIDS, there's an element of unsafe sleep that completely preventable. When we think of SIDS we always think of it as being unpreventable," said Dr. Cordaro.
Dr. Cordaro urges parents to put babies to bed on their back in a crib or a bassinet with no blankets, bumpers, pillows or toys. These are safe sleep practices detailed in this mailer.
Beyond the facts and recommendations, there's a more personal appeal that jumps off the page.
"She really wants to get the message across that now that we know better, we do better," said VanStrydonck.
It’s a firsthand account of loss that's hard to ignore.
"I think that really makes a difference and it makes the risk so much more significant and more real," said VanStrydonck.
The printing of these pamphlets was made possible through grants and mostly private donations. It's an idea the Baby Safe Sleep Coalition hopes will catch on all over Upstate New York.