Mercer County Community Hospital was recently recognized by the National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification Program as a “Gold Safe Sleep Hospital,” for their commitment to best practices and education on infant safe sleep. The National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification Program was created by Cribs for Kids®, a national infant safe sleep organization. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, Cribs for Kids is dedicated to preventing infant sleep-related deaths due to sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) and accidental suffocation.

As a Nationally Certified Safe Sleep Hospital, Mercer Health is recognized for following the safe sleep guidelines recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and providing training programs for healthcare team members and family caregivers at the highest available designation level.

“Sleep-Related Death (SRD) results in the loss of more than 3,500 infants every year in the U.S.,” said Michael H. Goodstein, M.D., neonatologist and medical director of research at Cribs for Kids. “We know that modeling safe infant sleep in the hospital and providing education to families has a significant effect on infant mortality. Cribs for Kids Hospital Certification Program is designed to recognize those hospitals that are taking an active role in reducing these preventable deaths.”

“We are proud to join the national effort to reduce infant mortality,” said Ashley Piper, RN, OB Clinical Coordinator for the Childbirth Center at Mercer Health. “We have always been promoters of safe sleep. The Cribs for Kids National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification is an important step in our efforts to provide parents and caregivers with the evidence-based information they need to ensure their babies sleep safely from day one.”

For more information on the Cribs for Kids National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification Program, visit https://cribsforkids.org/hospitalcertification/. For more information on the Childbirth Center at Mercer Health visit https://mercer-health.com/our-services/childbirth-center/