Houston, MO— Texas County Memorial Hospital has achieved bronze-level Safe Sleep Certification with the National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification Program. Working with the Safe Sleep program at The Community Partnership in Rolla, TCMH completed training and necessary steps to earn the status, demonstrating the organization’s commitment to best practices and education in infant safe sleep.
The National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification Program was created by Cribs for Kids®, an organization dedicated to preventing sleep-related Sudden Unexpected Infant Death and accidental suffocation in infants. According to Michael H. Goodstein, M.D., neonatologist and Medical Director of Research at Cribs for Kids®,
“Sleep-related death results in the loss of more than 3500 infants every year in the U.S. We know that modeling safe infant sleep in the hospital and providing education to families has a significant effect on infant mortality. Cribs for Kids Hospital Certification Program is designed to recognize those hospitals that are taking an active role in reducing these preventable deaths.”
Texas County has one of the highest rates of sudden infant death syndrome in Missouri, according to TCMH Obstetrics Director, Kristel Barton,
“The infant mortality rate per live birth was 10.25 percent in Texas County and 9.99 in Wright County during the years 2009-2019.”
As a nationally certified Safe Sleep Hospital, TCMH is recognized for following the safe sleep guidelines recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and for providing training to healthcare team members, parents, and infant caregivers on safe-sleep best practices. Judith A. Bannon, CEO, and Founder of Cribs for Kids® has this to say,
“Hundreds of hospitals across the U.S. are certified. We welcome Texas County Memorial Hospital to this expanding group of committed hospitals. This will have a profound effect on saving babies’ lives.”
For more information about Cribs for Kids’ National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification Program, visit: https://cribsforkids.org/hospitalcertification/
