Safe baby sleep campaign launched
18-06-2013
A campaign to raise awareness on the issue of safe infant sleeping environments amongst New Zealand’s Maori communities will be launched later this week at the Mokopuna Ora Conference, it has been revealed. There are around sixty cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in New Zealand every year, with more than 50% of these tragedies happening in Maori families. The majority of these cases involve suffocation during sleep due to unintentionally hazardous sleeping arrangements.
The National Sleep Safe Campaign will involve awareness-raising activities coordinated by Whakawhetu across local groups, and will culminate in Safe Sleep Day on December 6th. The campaign will involve education and support on the subject, with the aim of making “every sleep a safe sleep for every Kiwi baby”.
SIDS is a global issue, and a similar campaign to Whakawhetu’s was recently launched in the US.
Visit the website at www.safesleepday.org.nz for more information on the campaign.
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