October is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Awareness Month. A safe sleep environment can help reduce the risk of SIDS and other sleep-related causes of infant death, like suffocation.
The Vernon Parish Coroner’s Office has teamed up with Southwest Louisiana Safe Sleep Taskforce and the Cribs for Kids Nationwide Program. Our mission is to prevent infant sleep-related deaths by educating parents and caregivers on the importance of practicing safe sleep for their babies and by providing portable cribs to families who, otherwise, cannot afford a safe place for their babies to sleep. Our office has made a commitment to reducing infants’ deaths due to unsafe sleep practices by offering this 1-hour class several times a year. In addition to these classes, we offer one-on-one sleep education on request, when necessary, in order to ensure our community babies are sleeping safely. We have been offering these classes since 2018 and we have seen a significant drop in infant deaths in our area. This program operates by donation only and we have been fortunate enough to have our community step up and assist us in raising awareness and providing prevention.
After suffering the tragic death of their grandson Brentley Rowe in 2017, Daniel and Suzanne Rowe have focused their grief into helping us raise the funds necessary for these Graco Pack-N-Play cribs, Northwestern State University (Fort Johnson Campus) has provided us classrooms and allowed us to use their facilities for this community mission. If you would like to assist us in this endeavor, please reach out to our office at 337-392-2349. Please spread the word and come join us for our next Safe Sleep class on Friday, November 17, 2023, to educate new and expecting mothers on the importance of a safe sleep environment to reduce the risk of SIDS and other sleep-related deaths. We also encourage dads, grandparents, nurses, and caregivers to attend as well!
