The leading cause of healthy infant deaths in Monroe County -- is unsafe sleeping habits. That’s from the Baby Safe Sleep Coalition.
The coalition and the Monroe County Health Department announced their partnership to help lower the number of newborn mortalities. The initiative includes sending a pamphlet on safe ways for babies to sleep with each new birth certificate mailed this year.
Dr. Joanne Cordaro is a co-chair of the Safe Sleep Coalition. She says over 60% of all infant deaths are because babies are sleeping with a parent, sibling or on their stomach with items surrounding them.
"Babies should always sleep alone, on their backs, in crib or a bassinet with no blankets, bumpers, pillows [or] toys," Cordaro says.
Cordaro says out of the 10 babies that die every year in Monroe County, 100% of them are preventable.
In the past, she says those deaths were classified as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or S.I.D.S. That's why she says the group is targeting parents, and caregivers, of children under the age of one to follow sleep recommendations.
The group and the county made the announcement Tuesday at the Anthony Jordan Health Center.