Today marks National Safe Sleep Day - Te Rā Mokopuna with Hāpai Te Hauora leading the integrated approach to raise awareness and reduce the numbers of whānau affected by Sudden Unexpected Deaths in Infants (SUDI).
As Aotearoa prepares to observe Safe Sleep Day - Te Ra Mokopuna Ora on December 1st, Hāpai Te Hauora issues an urgent call to action to address safe sleep practices for infants. The reality of Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI) is babies losing their lives due to preventable causes during sleep.
A new app focusing on maternal and tamariki wellbeing is being launched today in Ōtaki. The free app - Tuku Iho - gives māmā and whānau hapū access to the wisdom and knowledge that would once have been passed on from their pakeke and kaumātua.
The National SUDI Prevention Coordination Service (NSPCS) is dismayed to once again see a Coroner’s ruling that the death of an infant was preventable had the whānau been given a pēpi-pod or wahakura at birth.
A “complete refresh” is needed to address the high number of Māori and Pacific infants dying from sudden unexplained death in infancy (SUDI), according to a new series of reports.
The Ministry of Health released three reports on Tuesday on the findings and recommendations of an analysis of 64 infant deaths between July 2019 and June 2020 that are likely SUDI cases.
SUDI is when a baby dies in a way that is unexpected and initially unexplained, and is the leading cause of preventable death in New Zealand infants.
As the days get shorter and the nights get cooler, Whānau Āwhina Plunket and the National SUDI Prevention Coordination Service are reminding whānau to make every sleep a safe sleep for precious pēpi this winter.
Whānau Āwhina Plunket Acting Chief Nurse Karen Magrath says sudden unexpected death of an infant (SUDI) is a leading cause of death for pēpi in Aotearoa New Zealand, but safe sleep practices can prevent many of these sad events.
Māori health providers are hoping a new pilot programme will be the key to reducing infant deaths.
Hāpai Te Hauora, Aotearoa's largest Māori public health organisation, working with community health providers, is leading a series of wānanga that connects with hapū māmā and supports them on being smoke-free.
Hāpai describes the wānanga as being "about supporting whānau during their hapūtanga 'season' to educate them about what to expect during their pregnancy and the birth of their pēpi."
Te Ra Mokopuna: National Safe Sleep Day Aotearoa is being held on Friday 3rd December 2021 across the motu proudly coordinated by the National SUDI Prevention Coordination Service at Hapai Te Hauora.
A 3-month-old baby with her face buried in a pillow. A 5-week-old lying on his tummy with cannabis in his system. A 4-month-old trapped down the side of a couch with his sibling partially on top of him. A 9-month-old with its neck caught in the band of a sleep tent.
These are just some of the tragic sudden deaths in babies (SUDI) that have come before the Coroner's office this year, most of which have been attributed to an unsafe sleeping environment.