‘Too many babies are dying’: Unsafe sleep deaths trend up in Nebraska

By Bill Schammert

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    OMAHA, Nebraska (KETV) — Inside Nebraska Methodist Women’s Hospital, parents are taught safe sleep practices before they leave the hospital.

“You want baby to sleep alone,” said Erica Maier, the hospital’s clinical resource manager for obstetrician services. “That’s really the key. You want baby to sleep alone.”

Safe sleep is all about education, Maier said.

“We want them nice, snuggled, and one warm blanket – that’s what we’re truly looking for,” she said.

But unsafe sleep can be deadly.

KETV Investigates uncovered new data from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.

It shows the mortality rate for sudden infant deaths by accidental suffocation has more than quadrupled over the last seven years.

The three-year rolling average in 2015 was 0.07 per 1,000 births. In 2022, the latest year for data, it was 0.32 per 1,000 births.

“We need to make sure we have the right data in the right hands for people to take action on,” said Charity Menefee, the public health director for the Nebraska Department of Human Services.

In 2022, of the 135 infant deaths reported – that’s a baby between 0 and 1 years of age – nine were attributed to accidental strangulation or suffocation.

Menefee points out that there’s no statistically significant change in the overall infant mortality rate in Nebraska in the last decade in Nebraska, which was 5.2 per 1,000 births in 2013 and 5.8 per 1,000 births in 2022.

The report also indicates that the rise in unsafe sleep deaths may be partially explained by an increased effort from the state to gather information specifically related to the sleep environment at a death scene.

“Any preventable death is one too many,” Menefee said.

The report shows a “statistically significant” difference in mortality rates among different races.

“We see there’s pretty significant racial disparities with our black babies in Nebraska,” Menefee said. ” That’s where we want to concentrate a lot of our effort so we’re providing education and care to the whole continuum that’s around those babies so that we can reduce those disparities.”

Recommendations from the report include expanding family, community, and provider-level promotion on infant safe sleep practices, and training visiting nurses and social service personnel in culturally sensitive, in-home interventions to promote safe sleep environments.

Unsafe sleep is also a cause being taken up by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

“Far too many babies are dying as a result of unsafe sleep environments,” said Pam Springs, the director for the CPSC. “And by that, I mean sleep environments – crib, bassinet, play yard – that frankly have too much stuff in them.”

It’s not only what’s in the sleep environment but also the type of sleep device being used.

“We’ve found that loungers and products that have an incline of 10 degrees or greater are not conducive to safe sleep for baby,” Springs said.

Maier said incline sleep can lead to blocked airways.

“Because when they’re in an inclined position, sometimes their heads can get – especially the newborns where they don’t have a whole lot of control over the neck – they can get crimped up,” Maier said.

A report from the CPSC in September 2024 showed there were 523 deaths reported among children younger than five between 2019 and 2021 associated with nursery products.

Of the 523, about 76% were tied to cribs, bassinets, playpens, incline sleepers, or infant carriers.

Products, like Fischer Price’s Rock ‘n’ Play sleeper, have been blamed for dozens of deaths. A recall was issued in 2019, but Springs said some can be found on secondary markets or through hand-me-downs.

“If parents are are unsure about a product, they should check for recalls,” Springs said.

Nebraska state law requires parents of newborns be given instructions on safe sleep practices before leaving the hospital. The one used by Maier at Nebraska Methodist Women’s Hospital is called “The ABCs of Safe Sleep.”

“A” stands for Alone. “B” stands for Back. “C” stands for Crib.

“Any time that we can educate towards it is going to be ideal,” Maier said. “Get it out there as much as possible and keep having the consistent conversations that babies alone on their back and then in their own crib.”

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