Safe Sleep is an investigative series examining what risk factors were present in more than 1,300 child deaths over an 11-year period in Canada.
At first, Annie Game thought it was funny when her son Jonathan suggested that she and her partner take a grandparents course.
“I started laughing because I had a baby, didn’t I? So I know what it’s about,” said Game, who lives in Markdale, Ont.
Although she laughed, Jonathan, who was expecting twins with his wife Keith Stanley, was serious.
New parents and even experienced ones like 69-year-old Game have been bombarded with information about baby care. This often does not reflect best practices, especially when it comes to safe sleep for infants.
This was a particular area of concern for Jonathan Game, and part of the reason he offered his mother the course.
“We were not sure what those guidelines were. We had a common idea. But we thought we’d have to watch closely, because you’re a new parent and you want to make sure you support them the best you can, “Jonathan said.” And without the information, we didn’t want to make the wrong turn. “
A recent CBC News investigation found that in 476 infant deaths in five provinces and three territories between 2009 and 2019, 61% of babies shared a bed. In 77% of cases, the baby slept on a surface that is not recommended as safe by health professionals, such as an adult bed and sofa.
Although they do not always know the cause of these deaths, experts believe that there are specific, changing factors that put newborns at risk.
The class teaches new best practices for baby care
With the girls arriving in about eight weeks, Annie Game attended a three-hour grandparents course called Baby Care for Grandparents Workshop through Zoom. The course, which costs $ 80 for two, is limited to eight and is often filled quickly each month.
While working with new parents, Carrie Greer discovers that she needs a course for grandparents.
Greer, a leading instructor and patient education specialist at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, found that there was unnecessary disagreement and different ideas about best practices for baby care.
She found that some grandparents gave outdated information to their families and that they could be a barrier for new parents despite their well-intentioned efforts to help.
“It’s a bit of an obstacle for parents,” Greer explained.
Carrie Greer, a patient education specialist at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, teaches a course to help grandparents learn the latest in baby care and safety. (Doug Nicholson / Sunnybrook Hospital)
For example, Greer said, “A grandmother was coming into a room and the baby was going to lie on his back. And the grandmother would panic because she was told that the babies should be on their stomachs or on their sides. know that it is best for babies to be on their backs when they sleep. “
Putting babies on their backs to sleep is one of the main ways to prevent infant death during sleep. Health Canada also recommends placing the baby to sleep only on a suitable sleeping surface, such as a crib or swing, without any bumper pads or other objects such as clutter.
This was information that Game did not hear when he was a new mother.
“It’s evolution,” Game said. “[An] evolution of research-based ideas, which I think is good for everyone. “
This was one of the topics the game interested in learning in the seminar. For many new parents and grandparents, safe sleep practices are the main way to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or SIDS.
SIDS is defined as “sudden death during sleep in an infant under one year of age that remains unexplained after a thorough investigation of the case, including a full autopsy, examination of the scene and review of clinical history,” according to Health Canada.
Images in advertising, social media play a role, says the researcher
Even during the game there was little information about SIDS, let alone what to do to prevent it.
“It simply came to our notice then [SIDS] it existed and people were afraid of it, but no research was really done to tell us how to react to it. So I think that was definitely something that was very interesting to talk about, “she said.
Greer became a grandmother for the first time when she chose content for the course. She included safe sleep practices because that was a topic the participants wanted to talk about.
Since moving to Zoom because of COVID, they have had grandparents from the United States and Australia.
Sleep statements and promotional materials can play a major role in educating babysitters. But traditional and social media often include images of babies in a dangerous sleeping environment. These images have the potential to influence decisions about safe sleep practices.
“If you go online and Google sleeping baby, you’ll see babies sleeping in all sorts of dangerous places to sleep,” said Dr. Rachel Moon, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and a renowned SIDS researcher.
Dr. Rachel Moon has spent decades studying sleep-related infant deaths, including Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). (University of Virginia Health)
“On Facebook, Instagram has all these pictures that parents take of their babies sleeping with someone on the couch. “Oh, isn’t that sweet?” Well, it’s sweet, but it’s also very, very dangerous. The couch is one of the most dangerous places for a baby to sleep, especially with someone else or alone. “
Some advertisers also choose photos for the packaging of their products showing babies in sleeping positions that are not recommended as safe. Moon said a walk down the aisle of the supermarket showed that.
“There were boxes of baby wipes from a well-known manufacturer, and on the box was a picture of a baby sleeping on its stomach. So it’s over and it’s all around us,” Moon said.
These photos “create the idea that this is normative behavior. That’s what people do and that it’s good to do. So everything needs to change, too.”
“A genuine desire for genuine evidence-based information”
In Nova Scotia, researchers at Dalhousie University, in collaboration with IWK, are working to change the way and when new mothers receive evidence-based information about baby care.
Dr. Justin Dole developed Basic Coaching for Every Mother as part of her doctoral dissertation while studying at Dalhousie. She describes it as “a postpartum text message intervention focused on increasing mom’s self-advocacy, confidence, and sense of social support, while reducing anxiety and depression.”
They were recruiting expectant mothers from all over the province who were planning to give birth to their babies at IWK. The six-week program sends text messages twice a day for the first two weeks and then a daily message for the remaining six weeks.
Dole was in the late stages of her pregnancy while developing and testing the messages. She said this gave her the opportunity to test the process by sending messages to herself, not only as a researcher but also as a mother for the first time.
Dr. Justin Dole developed Essential Coaching for each mother as part of her doctoral dissertation while studying at Dalhousie University. (Submitted by Justin Dole)
“When you’re pregnant, you have a lot of interactions with health care providers who can answer your questions. It was definitely much harder to find information, reliable information about what to do in the postpartum period,” Dole said. “There was often misinformation.”
Dole said she had a keen interest in the program, including from future fathers.
“I think the fact that there is so much interest shows that there is a real desire for real information based on evidence in the postpartum period.
Back in Ontario, the twins arrived in August and the Game family grew.
“I love them to the end. It’s a great, big, new family, “Game said. “This is wonderful.”
She said she felt empowered after taking the course and had already recommended it to other future grandparents.
“Once you see these babies, everyone’s focus is on them,” she said. “They are vulnerable. They are the ones who need support.”
Add Comment