Baltimore Promotes Safe Sleep To Prevent Infant Deaths

By Cathy Duchamp

The city of Baltimore is putting a human face on the issue of infant mortality. The latest numbers show the city is almost double the Maryland state average when it comes to baby deaths. Mothers, are at the center of a campaign to prevent infant deaths through safe sleeping practices.

The public service announcements feature real moms who share the horror of losing their babies in sleep-related deaths.

"We want to tap people where there emotions are and when you hear these women’s stories most people get very emotional," says Cathy Church Balin with the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.

It’s one of the organizations behind the so-called ‘Sleep Safe’ campaign. She says fear gets people to pay attention.

"To alleviate the fear we give the solution, that’s the behavior change we’re hoping for," she says.

The best way for your baby to sleep safe is alone, on their back in a crib, no exceptions

The campaign won’t last forever. The hope is that the message will stick, that people will just grow up knowing the phrase ‘alone, back, crib, no exceptions.’