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In October, the Armstrong County Memorial Hospital Foundation received funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Health to provide portable Graco Pack ’N Play cribs to new parents who are unable to provide one for their child.

According to 2002 statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. infant mortality rate increased from 6.8 deaths per 1,000 births in 2001 to 7.0 in 2002.

The American Academy of Pediatrics published a 1996 study titled “Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), Bedsharing, Parental Weight and Age at Death.” It demonstrated that “among an urban population at high risk for SIDS, bedsharing is strongly associated with a younger age at death, independent of any other factors.” This study provides evidence of a relationship between some SIDS-like deaths and parent-infant bedsharing, particularly if the parent is large.

According to the study, these accidental deaths might occur when an adult lies over the infant. If the infant is lying on soft sleep surfaces, such as a sofa or a family bed, entrapment and the likelihood of rolling to the prone position might occur.

By providing cribs to prevent co-sleeping with adults or siblings, the foundation hopes to decrease SIDS deaths in Armstrong County and surrounding areas.

The program involves family practice physicians, obstetricians, pediatricians, ACMH obstetrics staff, Concordia Visiting Nurses and Visiting Nurses Association.

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