WASHINGTON - The Steering Committee of the National Action Partnership to Promote Safe Sleep (NAPPSS) is encouraged by the new American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) “SIDS and Other Sleep-Related Infant Deaths: Updated 2016 Recommendations for a Safe Infant Sleeping Environment.”
Families do not see feeding and sleeping as separate tasks—these are the two biggest challenges in caring for a new infant.
These revised guidelines bring new focus to the vital role that safe sleep practices and breastfeeding play in keeping infants safe and the importance of supporting families to successfully implement both.
In addition, the new guidelines align with the NAPPSS perspective that families need full information and opportunities to openly discuss their concerns about safe sleep and breastfeeding recommendations with knowledgeable professionals and service providers so they can make informed decisions about their caregiving. AAP recommends that doctors have open and nonjudgmental conversations with families about their sleep practices. In the end, families will always be the decision-makers and want to do the best for their children.
The guidelines provide information for families to deal with the realities of feeding infants at night so that they can mitigate risk and enhance benefits. Parents want to both protect and nurture their babies.
NAPPSS has worked to support those who provide services and form alliances with new parents and other caregivers to use an integrated approach for families on safe sleep and breastfeeding.
The new guidelines align with the NAPPSS efforts to make safe sleep and breastfeeding a national norm and to bring together those promoting each of these behaviors, with a focus on supporting families to make informed decisions about caring for their infants.
To arrange an interview with NAPPSS leader Suzanne Bronheim, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics at Georgetown University Medical Center, please contact Karen Teber at km463(at)Georgetown(dot)edu.
About NAPPSSThe National Action Partnership to Promote Safe Sleep (NAPPSS) aims to develop and implement the National Action Plan to Increase Safe Infant Sleep and partner to support breastfeeding among infant caregivers by activating systems, supports, and services to systematically work together to make safe infant sleep a national norm. NAPPSS engages a coalition of over 50 advocacy organizations, professional associations, faith communities, and business groups with the active involvement of federal partners, including the Maternal and Child Health Bureau and NICHD's Safe to Sleep campaign. NAPPSS is organized by the National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health (NCEMCH) at Georgetown University, in collaboration with its partners—the National Center for Cultural Competence, First Candle, and Tomorrow's Child. It is funded through a cooperative agreement of $1.5 million over three years to NCEMCH from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration at HHS.
About Georgetown University Medical CenterGeorgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) is an internationally recognized academic medical center with a three-part mission of research, teaching and patient care (through MedStar Health). GUMC’s mission is carried out with a strong emphasis on public service and a dedication to the Catholic, Jesuit principle of cura personalis -- or "care of the whole person." The Medical Center includes the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing & Health Studies, both nationally ranked; Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute; and the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization, which accounts for the majority of externally funded research at GUMC including a Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health. Connect with GUMC on Facebook (Facebook.com/GUMCUpdate), Twitter (@gumedcenter) and Instagram (@gumedcenter).
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