Creating a safe sleep environment for babies: what are the practices performed by mothers?

Esin Zeren,Sevinç Polat,Ayşe Şener Taplak

doi:10.1108/jhr-04-2020-0122

Abstract

PurposeThis study aims to determine the practices performed by mothers to create a safe sleep environment for their babies.Design/methodology/approachThis cross-sectional study was conducted at Family Health Centers (FHCs), the Central Anatolian Region of Turkey. The study sample consisted of 455 mothers who had 0–12-month-old babies. The data were collected via a questionnaire to ascertain the descriptive characteristics and means of creating a safe sleeping environment.FindingsMothers performed unsafe/risky practices as well as safe practices. Unsafe practices of mothers included 92.3% preferring soft mattresses, 87.0% placed a pillow under the baby's head, 17.8% preferred a prone sleep position for their baby, 16.9% covered the baby's face with a piece of thin cloth, 14.3% kept the sheet on the mattress loose, 6.8% of the mothers shared the same bed, 2.4% reported smoking in the environment where the baby slept.Originality/valueBased on our findings, it is recommended that nurses should provide information on creating a safe sleep environment to mothers during FHC visits, and at-risk practices should be identified through home visits.

Highlights

A large majority of infant deaths occur due to sudden unexpected infant deaths (SIDS), which generally occurs during sleep and mostly due to an unsuitable sleep environment, within the first year of life [1,2,3]
92.3% of the mothers preferred soft sleep surface/mattress, 87.0% placed a pillow under the baby’s head, 16.9% covered the baby’s face with a piece of thin cloth while the baby was asleep, 14.3% kept the sheet on the mattress loose, 6.8% shared the same bed with the baby and 2.4% reported smoking in the environment where the baby slept
Safe and unsafe practices performed by mothers The Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) reported that sharing the same room with the baby without sharing the same bed prevents SIDS [17]

Summary

Introduction

A large majority of infant deaths occur due to sudden unexpected infant deaths (SIDS), which generally occurs during sleep and mostly due to an unsuitable sleep environment, within the first year of life [1,2,3]. In the USA, nearly 3,500–4,000 babies die due to sleep-related SIDS each year [4,5,6,7]. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/ legalcode

Objectives

Results

Discussion

Conclusion