Every sleep a safe sleep for infants

Northland has one of the highest rates of sudden death in infancy (SUDI) in the country, but the Northland DHB and Whakawhetu National SUDI Prevention for Maori have joined forces to change that.

They jointly hosted a hui in Kaitaia recently to promote the Kohunga Aituaa Ohorere project vision of making every sleep a safe sleep for all infants, Whakawhetu support spokesperson June Hilton-Jones saying Maori infants were at greatest risk. The greatest proportion of the 60 babies whose deaths were attributed to SUDI every year were Maori, she said. Around 3.5 babies, seven of them Maori for every one non-Maori, would die per 1000 live births in Northland.

The risk profile for a SUDI included mothers who were living in a high-deprivation community, were Maori, under 25 years of age, who smoked during and after pregnancy, who delivered premature babies, who shared beds and had who already lost a baby to SUDI.

PEPE is the acronym now being used to reinforce safety measures to ensure babies have a safe sleep. PEPE stands for: Place baby in his or her own baby bed; Eliminate smoking in pregnancy, in the whanau and in the home; Position baby on his or her back to sleep; and Encourage and support mum so baby is breastfed.

At-risk mums are also being offered a 'pepe-pod,' or wahakura, to help reduce the rate of SUDI by providing a safe space when babies sleep in or on an adult bed, a couch or away from home.

Ms Hilton-Jones said the pepi-pod was a simple storage box that converted to a baby bed when fitted with a cover, a fitted mattress and a full set of bedding. The wahakura was a woven bed, hand-made from flax with an open weave so as to be naturally ventilated, allowing air flow to regulate the temperature around the baby.

Maori babies were dying unnecessarily, and that could be changed by providing a safe sleep place, she said.

"Entwined in every piece of flax is the message of how we keep our babies safe," she added.

"Every baby is worth saving. It doesn't have to be flash, it just has to be a safe sleep space - every sleep, every place."

Kaitaia midwife JudyAnn Cooze, who is supporting of the project, and who has recently returned after working in Australia for 24 years, said she was overwhelmed by Northland's "horrifying" conditions and statistics.

"To see the deprivation that some of our whanau live in was really an awakening for me," she said.

"Everywhere I looked there was a need. I thought, 'I've just got to put my big-girl pants on and step in;' I thought, 'This just isn't right. How does this happen in a developed country?"'

It was a disheartening job, she added, because while those most at risk were willing to receive, they were not willing to participate.

"The people who need it the most aren't here today, and in order for our message to flow on, all of you who are here today need to take that message back to your whanau and say this is for us as individuals, as a collective iwi in this area," she said.

"We have to own this. This belongs to us. And why does this belong to us? Because the tamariki are our future. Our statistics up here in Kaitaia are real. Ask any midwife and they will tell you this is not a fairy story. This is real life, and this is happening every day. Our young people, our babies are in need."

Ms Hilton-Jones and Ms Cooze will be taking the 'Safe sleep space - every sleep, every place' message on the road over the next few months, visiting towns in the Mid North.