SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The Saint Joseph County Health Department hosted a safe sleep class, ‘Give Your Baby Room to Breathe,’ through their program, Empowering Moms and Babies through Education and Resilience (EMBER), Tues. evening at the Beacon Resource Center.
With October being safe sleep awareness month, a time dedicated to educating families on the risk of Sudden Unexplained Infant Death Syndrome (SUIDs), the session was open to anyone who cares for a baby to help ensure the baby gets a safe sleep, every night.
The tragic truth in Indiana is that, on average, there are about two infant deaths per week due to unsafe sleeping habits. In just a single month, August 2025, more than 10 infants died according to Indiana’s Department of Health.
Renata Williams, the Director of Community Access Resources and Education (CARE) for the Saint Joseph County Health Department, said SUIDs can happen very quickly, within 30 to 60 seconds.
“Next to perinatal risk, unsafe sleep practices are one of the number one ways that, unfortunately, we lose infants in Saint Joseph County, so we want to make sure the community is educated on the ABCs of safe sleep,” said Williams.
To learn more about the ABCs of safe sleep, click here
To get involved with EMBER, click here.
For more resources, click here.